My Black Dahlia
by mzfeistyx3
Summary: Paul would do anything and everything for her because he loved her. But she didn't love him the same way he did.
1. Red

**A/N: Hello everyone! I know I have been MIA for quite a while, but I am back now and ready to start a new story. My last story, Hotblack, has not been finished yet, I still need to work on the last chapter which I honestly have not started working on yet. :/ But, I have been working on a brand new story with five chapters already done!**

**This story is based off the song My Black Dahlia by Hollywood Undead. I've done some research through the original story of Black Dahlia where Elizabeth Short, a girl who had been murdered and the killer had been unknown. I plan to make this story similar to the original story and the song, but in my own way.**

**This story would be rated T for now, but will move onto rated M for later chapters.**

**Ikarishipping and Pearlshipping are included in this story, though the Pearlshipping is mostly Anti-Pearlshipping, and also there is no Pokémon in the story, mostly because I want to stick to more realistic events.**

**There will be some pretty crazy scenes that involve violence, strong sexual explicit scenes, drugs, alcohol, etc. If you do not feel comfortable to read about these kinds of situations, then please don't read! If you do, well go on and read and I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

All the people that were sitting on the stands were filled with ecstatic when they saw the best marching band in the state step foot on the field. They were known as the Potential Sound of Energy, the only band in Veilstone City with loads of potential energy and never ending stamina. The band also had a well-known dance team known as the Blue Diamonds, the best dancers any marching band could ever have.

Paul, an 18-year old senior with long lavender colored hair, searched through the crowd to find the captain of the Blue Diamonds. His girlfriend, Dawn Berlitz, happened to be the captain of the Blue Diamonds and was considered one of the best dancers in Veilstone City. Paul always believed she was the best overall, not that because she's his girlfriend, but because he's watched her dance so many times that he has never seen anyone else dance as amazing as she does. Dawn always dreamed of pursuing a dancing career and Paul would do anything and everything to help her reach that goal.

Paul wasn't usually the type to fall in love with just anybody, he was always to himself and never had any time for love or a relationship in that matter. But when he met Dawn, he hadn't known that a girl like her would ever change his life or in fact make him want to become a better person.

When he had met her, he honestly didn't like her at all. He felt that she was one of those stuck up kind of girls since she was a Blue Diamond. But then one day, the girl he assumed that was so stuck up, wanted to get to know him because he rarely had any friends. Of course, he felt some kind of way for her judging him over his actions and his appearances, but what he noticed about her is that she actually wanted to get to know him and be his friend, like she really was interested.

That's one thing that really caught Paul's interest because she was so eager and determined to get to know him and become a part of his life. But what had made him fall for her is when he started going through rough patches at home and Dawn had always been the one to help him through those rough patches. Paul hadn't known anyone that was willing to help him through so much pain like the way she did. And that's what he admired most about her. She would always be there for him with everything.

"I see May!" Drew, who is also a senior and a really close friend of Paul's, shouted.

Paul and Drew had been friends for quite a long time, and he knew he could trust his green-haired friend with anything. The two had been sitting on the metal stands along with three of their other friends, Ash, Gary, and Leaf. They all decided to attend the special event tonight because not only it was a regular competition; it was the State Competition for all bands in the state. And State Competition was considered big; at least that's what they knew.

Paul laid back a little bit and kept his eyes on a certain Blue Diamond.

Dawn had her hands placed on her hips just like a few other Blue Diamonds with their left legs stepped out. The rest of the Blue Diamonds were standing the same way, though with their right arms, they were resting flags against their waists. They were all smiling bright, each of the girls wearing a bright sparkling blue head band wrapped around their foreheads, along with a tight glittery sapphire blue and silver body suit and beige stockings with beige dance shoes. Each of the girls had their faces beautifully done; their eye shadow sparkling with blue and white glitter and regular eye shadow beneath. Their lips were colored in red, the only color that made their outfits pop.

One thing Paul loved the most is that he always got to see Dawn looking sexy with those outfits, but that's something that he would never say out loud.

"They better win this shit," Gary muttered, taking a sip of his drink that he bought from the concession stand.

"Oh they will, trust me." Leaf, his pretty brown-haired girlfriend announced. "They're the only band that everybody talks about and I know this because Kanto and Hoenn are talking about how bad they want the band to go over there."

"Really?" Ash, the raven-haired 17-year old teen who always worn a hat over his head said, sounding surprised with what the girl had said.

Paul rolled his eyes. He always disliked the raven-haired teen because of his positive and outgoing personality. But it wasn't just that, the raven-haired teen seemed to cause Dawn's interest in a way, especially when it came to his basketball games since he is the captain of the varsity basketball team. Paul would never admit that he felt this way to her because he knew that she just looked at him as a friend. But she was always more happier around him, and he never exactly understood why.

Paul sighed, taking a look at the basketball player who was concentrating hard on the band. He wasn't about to let these thoughts roam into his head, especially on the night of State Competition, so he looked away and narrowed his eyes on the band who were on the field.

"Drum Majors! Take the field…" The announcers said through the microphone for everyone to hear.

Everyone soon fell silent as their eyes fell on the band before them.

The drum majors blew their whistles as the band began marching in place seconds after.

Paul hardened his eyes on them, watching as the bandsmen beginning to march forward in even lines on the football field, the dancers marching in between them while they all screamed chants while marching.

After a few moments, the band began to spread out in different angles, but Paul quickly took notice of the shape that the band had created and it was a diamond.

The marching band soon had stopped marching and lifted their horns as they began playing a smooth fanfare, some of the Blue Diamonds in between them moving their flags smoothly with the song.

"I see May over there," Drew pointed to where she was, and she happened to be all the way in front where the other trumpets were.

Paul had known Drew for quite a long time to know about his girlfriend May, who was also in the marching band, but she wasn't a dancer. She was a bandsmen and she happened to play the trumpet.

"She looks super hilarious in that big ole' uniform," Drew laughed, not being able to take his girlfriend rather seriously in show.

That's one thing the bandsmen had to wear, whenever it was cold outside, they had to wear their huge band uniforms, uniforms that make them look like the Nut Cracker. At least that's how Paul had always seen it.

"I can't take her seriously with all that on, especially with that helmet and plume." Drew laughed hysterically, trying to calm himself and continue watching the performance.

Paul chuckled lightly. It was pretty funny to see her wear that. Every girl looked pretty funny wearing band uniforms.

The band began to move again, separating into more shapes as the band began playing songs that seemed familiar to most of the audience.

The song that they were currently playing was Chandelier by Sia. Paul could tell the band was playing the song by the rhythm. Though, he let his eyes search for Dawn and saw her dancing with four other Blue Diamonds. She was practically flying, but her arms were going in the air from side to side as her legs kicked in the air.

"I'mmmmm gonna swiiiiiiing from the Chandelierrrrr, from the Chandelierrrrrr!" Gary sang, getting into the song the band was playing.

Paul couldn't help but laugh at Gary's stupidity and childish behavior. That boy was always known to have fun no matter where he was.

It was going on 10 minutes into the show, and the band already played a few songs like Trophies by Drake, Maniac by Michael Sembello, She by Keyshia Cole, Wild for the Night by Skrillex ft ASAP Rocky, Thug Cry by Rick Ross, and Too Much by Spice Girls.

Paul assumed the best part of the show was now since the band started marching closer to the audience in even lines. Usually when they do this means that they're about to finish off the show with something great.

The band stopped in place and yelled out a chant before dancing all together.

"Yes! You guys better work!" Drew stood up, cheering for the band.

Paul smirked as he watched his girlfriend dance her ass off.

The songs were all bashed up together, he could tell because it was a mixture of Michael Jackson's songs such as Beat It, Billie Jean, PYT, and the last song being Thriller.

The performance ended with the band doing the Thriller dance all together while playing their instruments, though, the dancers had it easier with dancing that dance because they didn't have to play an instrument while dancing. After they finished, they all stopped and yelled "Down!" which meant that the show was now finished.

Suddenly, everyone stood on their feet and began clapping and cheering them on, but Paul just stood up with his friends, having his hands in his pockets as he stared at Dawn and the entire band beginning to march off the field.

"They're most definitely going to win!" Leaf screamed in ecstatic, clapping nonstop.

"Shit! That was good!" Drew yelled.

"Yeah, you go May! And Dawn!" Ash yelled, causing Paul to shoot a glare at him, though the teen hadn't noticed.

* * *

"And now, the band with a total of 98.4% in marching, flag dancers, drum majors, general effect, and music is…"

Paul stared hard at the scene, the rest of the people on the stands silent as ever as they waited to hear which band would walk out of this stadium as the 2014 State Champions.

"…Veilstone High's Potential Sound of Energy!"

It wasn't until a second later everyone jumped out of their seats, along with the marching band quickly running out onto the field with loud screams and excitement.

Paul smiled, happy with the judge's decision. Of course they are the champions, they're the best and he always knew that ever since he was a freshman at Veilstone High.

* * *

The stadium began to clear, but the band was still on the field still overwhelmed with the fact of being State Champions.

Paul smiled as he walked onto the field.

"I'll be right back," Drew patted Paul's shoulder as he said this, running to find May on the field.

Paul saw as he left, but then narrowed his eyes at Dawn who was currently walking towards him and gave him a huge hug. "Congratulations." He whispered, his arms placed on her waist.

Dawn pulled back a little, her arms still wrapped around his neck. "I'm so happy. I can't believe we won. I didn't think we would."

"I knew you guys would." Paul smirked. "All of you worked really hard and you guys deserved it."

"Thank you." Dawn smiled brightly.

Paul licked his lips and began to lean in in order to kiss her, but Dawn instantly pulled back. "Did you forget? I can't kiss you in uniform." Dawn giggled.

Paul's face immediately fell blank. He always hated that stupid rule, but he couldn't just break it even if he wanted to.

"Dawn! Congratulations."

Paul looked behind Dawn and saw that it was the raven-haired senior he just couldn't stand.

Paul snarled. Dawn's eyes lit up and if not mistaken, Paul noticed that she became a little more happier to see him here than seeing her own boyfriend.

"Hi Ash!" Dawn gave him a big hug, the hug lasting for at least three seconds before she pulled away. "I can't believe you're here!" She smiled.

"I couldn't miss State Competition. Plus, you did great Dawn. I loved the way you danced." Ash smiled at her.

Paul watched the two intensely, but if not mistaken, he saw a small blush appear on Dawn's face as soon as Ash said that, and Paul felt a bit conflicted with that.

"Dawn, come on let's take a picture!" A pink haired Blue Diamond said, grabbing onto Dawn's hand and pulling her toward the group of dancers as they began to take their group photo with the State Champion trophy.

Paul licked his lips and narrowed his eyes on Ash who was watching the girls take a photo together. He stared at him intensely, his fists clenching at his sides.

Before he could say anything to Ash, Drew and the others came back, distracting him from doing so.

"I'm glad they won." Leaf said, her arms wrapped around Gary as Gary kept her warm since it was so cold outside.

"Yeah, May is really happy and so is Dawn." Drew smiled, chuckling lightly. "It's great that they got to experience something like this."

Paul shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the grass for a brief moment, now beginning to get lost in his thoughts.

Why did Dawn blush at the compliment Ash had given her? It just didn't make any sense. Ash wasn't even her boyfriend, so why did she blush at his comment?

Is it possible that she might have feelings for him? Paul shook his head, not wanting to think about anything like that.

Ash was completely opposite from Paul. He was always more kind and outspoken, always did things positively, always had a positive heart and mind, and he was always determined to have a splendid life. Plus, he was in the varsity basketball team, along with Gary.

Paul was always to himself and never really socialized with much people. He always had a negative view of things because that's how he had always saw things in his perspective. He wasn't involved with any school activities, but he knew that he wanted to get into college.

But Paul was nothing like Ash and he'd be damned to be anything like him.

Paul broke out of his thoughts as soon as he heard Gary speak. "The band is leaving on their buses. We should start heading back, its way too cold to be standing out here." The brown spiky-haired basketball player said.

The group nodded as they started following Gary to his car. Paul walked with them silently, his thoughts still fixed on Dawn and Ash.

Where were these emotions coming from? Paul felt more anger boil inside of him, but he let out a breath of air as he tried to calm himself down.

Ash Ketchum. There's no way in hell that Dawn could possibly have feelings for him.

Paul Sumpter was the better man for her and he knew that. There's no way in hell Ash Ketchum could compete with him.

* * *

Paul entered his classroom and sat down in his usual seat where he always sat in his first period. He had just finished walking Dawn to her class, but he was quick to leave her and get to his class just because he was still feeling some type of way about what had happened on Saturday night.

Dawn had questioned him a few times here and there, wondering why he was so quiet and so emotionless, but he didn't bother giving her the satisfaction of telling her what was wrong. He just needed time to think and he honestly didn't want to talk about the problem at all because that will only make the problem worse than it already is.

"Good morning Tigers! Hope everyone is having a good morning so far." Serena, a girl with long blonde hair and who also happened to be a senior spoke into the announcement speakers. She was the girl who always offered to do the school announcements and had a 4.0 GPA. Paul knew her from a few of his classes, but he never spoke to her once because well, he never liked to socialize. He also knew that she sort of had a thing for Ash, but never really did anything about it since he is the captain of the varsity basketball team.

"Congratulations to our Marching Tigers, the Potential Sound of Energy for winning State Champions at the state competition on Saturday night!"

The entire class began to scream in chaos, but Paul just sat there in his seat, completely oblivious to the enthusiasm the class was having about the band winning State Champions.

"For winning State Champions, Mr. Jones promises championship rings, so all band members and dancers remember to come by the band room to get your ring sizes!"

…

"That's all I have to say this morning. Everyone have a wonderful morning and go Tigers!"

The line soon cut off.

Paul ignored his surroundings, not really caring about the band winning State Champions anymore.

Maybe he was paranoid. Maybe she wasn't blushing at Ash and it was all just a hallucination. Maybe he just imagined it and he had to just find more of a reason to hate Ash.

Paul laughed lightly to himself at the thought.

What was this feeling he was having towards the raven-haired varsity basketball player? Was it envy?

Paul shook his head. Paul wasn't the person that was capable of being jealous of someone; he never felt that kind of emotion. And that emotion was known as a weakness and there's no way in hell Paul wanted to be considered as weak. He was strong, stronger than most people he knew. Yeah, he gets hurt, like most people, but he was always strong about things that tried to put a huge impact on him.

Paul wasn't jealous of Ash. There's no way in hell he could be.

Paul then found himself remembering something. This was the period that Dawn shares a class with him, and just by knowing that simple fact caused Paul to clench his fists tightly.

Who knows what they could be doing in that class…

Paul groaned, annoyed with his thoughts. He wasn't weak and he wasn't the kind to get jealous. Dawn had always been loyal to him and she would never betray him, so he believed that. There's no way in hell he's gonna let that raven-haired bastard make him think otherwise.

"I hate how she completely has him fooled." A girl said, causing Paul to suddenly break out of his thoughts. The girl was speaking to one of her friends, talking about something which he assumed was a bunch of gossip, so he just shook his head and ignored it.

"Paul is way too good for her. I don't understand how he doesn't see that she obviously has a thing for Ash."

Paul raised his eyebrow, his attention back onto the conversation once again as soon as he heard what the conversation was really about. But Paul pretended as if he wasn't listening to the conversation, now locking his eyes on his phone.

"I just think that she's a whore. I saw her the other day staring at Ash while he was changing out of his basketball uniform in the boy's locker room."

One of the girls gasped. "Really? Wow… I feel really bad for Paul. He really needs to leave her before she cheats on him."

"But what if she already had? She's a Blue Diamond for crying out loud, why would she want to settle for a guy who's not as popular as her? I mean, Paul is good looking and all, but he isn't popular. And plus, Ash is the captain of the Basketball team. It would only make sense for her to cheat on Paul with him."

"But I don't think Ash is that kind of guy to take someone's girlfriend. I mean, he's really kind, and I don't think he'll let Dawn get _that _close to him."

"Marisol, come on. Think! He's the captain of his team and she's the captain of the dance team. He must have feelings for her too and I really do think that he could possibly do something as shady as that."

"But Caroline, Ash wouldn't make a move on Dawn." The girl, Paul assumed to be Marisol, said.

"How do you know that?" Caroline raised her eyebrow.

"I don't, but I've heard a lot of good things about him. I don't think he's that kind of person." Marisol sighed.

"Marisol, don't you know that it's always the bad guys that always gets a good impression on people? Don't let that fool you." Caroline flipped her blonde hair to the side before looking at her brown haired friend again. "Besides, even if Ash doesn't make a move on Dawn, what if Dawn makes a move on Ash? I mean, it is possible. She does have a huge crush on him and _everybody _knows that."

"Yeah, but not Paul." Marisol added, frowning slightly as she looked over at Paul who was looking down at his phone. He was unaware of her glancing at him though, he was still pretending he had been focused on his phone but he had been listening onto the girl's conversation the entire time. Anger was filling inside of him, but he did very well not to show it.

"Paul is going to find out. I'm sure he's not stupid." Caroline smiled lightly before looking over at him and then back at Marisol. "And once he does, I'm sure the outcome wouldn't be pretty."

Marisol frowned.

"If I were her, I wouldn't mess with a mysterious guy who never knew what love was like till he met her. And once he realizes that she is his worst, she's going to wish she never ruined his life."

The bell soon rang and Paul quickly left out of the classroom, his body filled with all kinds of rage.

So Dawn does have a crush on him or was that just a rumor?

Ash could also have mutual feelings for her, but then again did Dawn really have feelings for him that way?

Paul was confused and angry, he just couldn't function. He wasn't the type to believe rumors, but he just couldn't deny what was right in front of him. She did blush when Ash gave her that compliment. She always loved being around Ash. She was always happier around Ash. Whatever Ash thinks is right, she agrees with him. It was always Ash. Ash had always been the person she'd tell all her secrets to, but she never told Paul her deepest secrets. Ash had more of that trust than he did. Did she not trust Paul at all?

Paul stopped in front of her class and the sight before him completely made him explode.

Ash and Dawn were laughing as they exited their class and Dawn was smiling super hard, but what for?

Paul didn't think, he just walked up to the pair, his eyes fixed on Ash and his face flat on serious. Dawn soon saw him coming their way and she smiled instantly. "Paul!" She said with excitement, but her excitement completely blew out of her when she saw him throw a punch in Ash's face.

Her jaw dropped. "Paul!" She shouted, seeing as Ash fell to the floor. She dropped down to her feet as she grabbed Ash in her hands.

Paul saw her grab him into his hands, and he wanted to punch him even more, but then he felt eyes on him, a whole lot of them. When he turned around, he saw a lot of people looking at him in surprise, a few of them yelling "Fight, fight, fight!" in order to encourage him to continue the fight with Ash.

Paul just shook his head and turned, walking away as he pushed through the crowd that witnessed the scene.

Dawn watched as her boyfriend left, confused about why he had all of a sudden punched Ash. "Paul!?" She shouted, watching as he disappeared from the hallway.

Teachers and a whole bunch of administrators shown up, too late to stop what had happened.

Paul slammed the doors of the school open.

Dawn obviously has feelings for Ash.

She got down on her feet to grab him in her arms as soon as Paul punched him.

Dawn chose Ash instead of Paul.

Maybe she didn't love Paul like the way he loved her, or maybe she never loved him at all.

Maybe she really loved Ash and Paul was just too blind to see it.

* * *

The doorbell rang, causing Paul to look straight at his room door after hearing the sound of the house bell ring. He had his Dr. Dre beats in his ears, listening to music, but his music wasn't loud enough to tune out the sound of the doorbell. Paul ignored the sound though, listening to his music before raising the music up a bit louder. Whoever was at the door, he sure was not about to get up and answer it, his brother could do that, not him.

Paul closed his eyes, getting zoned out in his music. Usually the music helps him fall asleep, and he wanted to sleep and rest his mind, especially after the events that occurred earlier that day.

"_I hate living without you. Dead wrong to ever doubt you. But my demons lay in waiting, tempting me away."_

Paul's eyes snapped open as soon as he felt his headphones being pulled down towards his neck. "What the fuck?" He retorted, soon realizing who was the person that was responsible for interrupting his slumber.

"Can you explain to me why you punched Ash earlier today? That was really uncalled for." Dawn crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for an answer.

"What?" Paul furrowed his eyebrows together. "What are you even doing here?" He raised his voice.

"I'm here because I'm concerned about the way you've been acting." She told him. "Now tell me why you punched him." Dawn demanded.

"I punched the spoiled brat because he deserved it," Paul rolled his eyes, putting his headphones back to his ears. Dawn pulled the headphones back down, quickly seeing a flicker of annoyance cross Paul's face.

"No he didn't," Dawn said in defense, "He didn't do anything to you, so that didn't give you the right to punch him."

Paul shook his head and moved off of the bed; he was completely annoyed with the words that were coming out of her mouth right now. She sounded ridiculous. "Whatever," he mumbled.

Dawn sighed, turning around. "Can you please tell me what's going on with you? I don't understand…"

"It's nothing." He lied.

Of course it was something, something that bothered him a lot. But he didn't want to discuss it with her because he, himself didn't want to find out if she really does have feelings for Ash. Dawn didn't need to know that he was feeling some kind of… _jealousy _toward her and the basketball player. Him feeling that way period made him look pretty much pathetic and Paul never considered himself as pathetic.

Dawn sighed as she hugged him from behind, resting her face on his back. Paul wanted so badly to pull her away from him, but then he remembered how much he loved this girl. She is the only girl that ever made him feel so… light; she was like a flame that lit up all of his tunnels. And that's what people mostly described him as, a tunnel, something that's dark and with little light.

"Whatever is going on, you know that I'm always going to be there for you Paul." She frowned, slowly pulling away from the hug and turning him around to face her.

Paul just looked at her with a blank look, no emotion in his face. Dawn's frown deepened. "I love you." She said, looking at him in the eye.

He said nothing; he just remained quiet and emotionless. Dawn sighed before placing her hands on each side of his face. "I love you Paul and nothing is going to change that."

Paul stared into her eyes as she said this, her soft hands caressing his face. Before he could contemplate on what to do next, she pressed her lips onto his and silenced him with a long-lasting kiss.

For some reason, deep down behind those words, he heard otherwise. It seemed like she didn't mean what she said, and Paul isn't stupid. He could tell when someone is lying or not. But he didn't want to believe that this was a lie because this girl that was kissing him, telling him she loved him, is the love of his life. And he would do anything and everything to keep her.

Dawn pulled away from the kiss and looked him in the eye again, her hands still on each side of his face. "Always and forever…" she whispered, and then smiled softly.

Paul just stared down at her, no emotional expressions filling inside of him, not even on his face. Dawn pursed her lips however, and then dropped her hands back to her sides. She looked down, and then looked back up as if she tried to be extra happier than before. Paul quickly noticed her mood change, but he knew it was because he didn't show any emotion to what she had just said. He knew she hated that, but he honestly couldn't bear any emotion, especially with the thoughts that he's having about her.

"Well I'm gonna go over to May's." She added, grabbing her jacket that was placed on his dresser. "I promised her we would have a girl's night out. I just thought I'd see you first, so…"

"Hn." Paul walked past her to the dresser to find a pair of new clean clothes.

Dawn bit down on her bottom lip. "I'm just going to hang out with May, Paul." She said.

Paul didn't bother on acknowledging her comment; he just continued to find himself some clothes that he could wear after he showers.

"You know, you're really frustrating me with the attitude." Dawn said louder.

Paul chuckled and looked over at her. "What are you talking about?"

"The way you're acting." Dawn folded her arms together. "You're not saying anything, you're being way too quiet and you know I hate that side of you."

Paul returned his eyes on the clothes he was searching for. "Learn how to deal with it."

Dawn blinked, confused with his behavior. "What? What is wrong with you Paul?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

Dawn wanted to argue, but she held her ground and just let out a sigh. "Whatever, I'm leaving." She gathered her things together and started leaving, but she halted and turned to look at him and she stared at him for a short moment before speaking. "…Do you trust me?"

Paul raised an eyebrow, but Dawn remained staring at him as she waited for an answer.

After staring at her for what seemed like forever, Paul tore his eyes off of her. "You sound pathetic." He said as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Trust is something that someone can't automatically have. Trust is earned and he wasn't so sure if Dawn earned that place, especially with how she's been behaving lately.

If anyone's having a change in behavior, it's her, not him.

But did she really mean what she said? Does she love him like she says she does?

Paul heard the front door of the house close shut and he looked at himself in the mirror.

Maybe he was being paranoid and over thinking things. Maybe Dawn really loves him and he's just hallucinating. But then again, what if he isn't hallucinating?

Paul frowned.

He loved her way too much.

* * *

**A/N: First chapter complete. Yay!**

**Songs used in this chapter: Comatose by Skillet.**

**I firstly want to point out that while I was gone; I was busy in band myself. Yes, I am in a marching band called the Southern Sound of Soul for my school, Seventy-First High School, and I play the piccolo/flute. I do want to include that I am one of the State Champions of North Carolina, and me and my band have won State Championship in November 2014. I have proof on my instagram: mzfeistyx3, and on a youtube video where you can just type in "SSS (71****st**** HS Marching Band) – 6****th**** Annual (2014) NC High Stepping Marching Band Competition". This is why I put so much detail with the band scenes because I know a lot of it, though I don't know much about the band dancers because I've never really was one, but I do know that they dance a lot, wearing glittery make up and body suits, and have flags with them—well some of them do.**

**Just wanted to tell you guys that. (: I will not be putting anymore band scenes because band season in the story is over, so it would just be focusing more on Dawn and her dance duties since she loves to dance.**

**For the next chapter I will include a new character that will become one of the main characters in this story, and it is a SHE. She's also a character I love to write about, and she was only in one episode in the first generation of Pokémon. You guys will find out who it is the next chapter, but in the meantime, REVIEW! And tell me what you guys think what might happen later in the story. I really want to know your predictions!**


	2. Dark Green

**A/N: I really want more readers on this story lol feels weird having low viewers. But I'm not complaining, I'm still writing this story and completing it. I've already completed six chapters, and updates will be coming in.**

**Umm I might also consider working on another story along with this one, but first I would like to get a few chapters of that story done first before I even start thinking about posting another fanfic on this website. **

**The story that I am really interested in working on is based off the movie/book Fifty Shades of Grey. No, I have not read or watched the movie Fifty Shades of Grey yet, but I read and seen a lot of information about it that it gave me enough interest on working on a fanfic. The fanfic would be titled **_**Fifty Shades of Gary**_**. Yes, and the characters that I will be using is Gary Oak as Christian Grey and Leaf as Anastasia Steele. I'm pretty sure that I don't have to say much about this story because I'm sure most of you are familiar with it… but it's going to be written in MY version. So stay tuned for this story coming up soon. (;**

**Anyway, now onto the next chapter of My Black Dahlia.**

* * *

It's been a few days since she had last spoken to him and of course Paul felt some type of way about it. But even he, himself needed some space, so he decided to let things slide on its own.

But Paul couldn't help but see her at least. He didn't want to talk, he just wanted to see her, to check up on her and see how she is doing.

Paul stopped by the dance room, sure to not be seen by her. He looked through the door to watch her dance and saw that she was wearing a black tank top with black shorts and black and white Nike footwear. Dawn had her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, pieces of her hair clinging onto her neck due to the sweat she had developed while dancing.

"_There's something scary about the look that's in your eyes. There's hate and anger in your face… There had been trouble and it comes as no surprise. You say tonight someone has taken someone else's life."_

Paul didn't recognize the song at all, but he really admired watching Dawn dance. She always seemed like she forgot about everything that was around her, as if the dancing compelled her to forget her surroundings. But Paul watched as she danced with the song, her eyes closed as she moved from here and there. The way she danced was lovely and Paul couldn't even deny that.

"She's a marvelous dancer, isn't she?" A voice said, causing Paul to flinch at the sound of the unexpected presence of someone next to him. Paul looked at the girl beside him, not recognizing the girl at all.

She had long dark brown hair and all black on with a tight leather jacket and all black jeans; her hair flowed against her jacket with all the waves throughout her hair. She looked like she got her hair done at a salon. What made her look even more exotic were the shoes she was wearing; she was wearing black pumps.

The girl wasn't immune to his reaction, her eyes was on Dawn as she continued to speak. "A lot of girls would kill to be her; A Blue Diamond." She licked her bottom lip. "Head captain of the Blue Diamonds to be exact."

Paul stared at the brunette beside him, wondering why she was speaking to him and why she was there in the first place. "I can tell that you'd do anything for that girl."

Paul furrowed his eyebrows together, taken aback. "What? How do you know that?"

The girl narrowed her brown eyes at him to stare back into his onyx eyes. "Well everybody knows about you and her. You guys are quite the couple around here." She flashed him a cocky smirk before shaking her head, her hair falling to her back. "So tell me, why aren't you guys on speaking terms anymore?"

"And how did you know that?" Paul raised his eyebrow. Who was this girl? And how come she knew these things about him and his relationship with Dawn?

"I'm a keen observer," she told him, now waiting for him to answer her question.

Paul stared at the girl for a bit before answering her question. "We're fine; we're just taking a break from each other."

"How come?" The girl asked, curious.

Paul's face immediately fell flat. She must be one of those kinds of girls that won't stay out of people's business. "It's none of your business," he snapped.

The girl laughed lightly at his comment and then responded, "I can help you with whatever is going on."

"I don't need your help," he spat, "And plus, I don't even know you." He pushed himself off the door he was leaning on and started walking down the hall.

"I can find out a lot about Ash if you let me help you."

Paul stopped in his tracks, and the girl smiled, knowing that she caught his immediate attention.

Paul's eyes narrowed toward the ground and his fists clenched at his side. He turned around and walked up to the girl, their bodies dangerously close, but he didn't care how close their bodies were at the moment. "Are you stalking me?" He raised his voice, his face dangerously close to hers.

The girl rolled her eyes. "No." She said bluntly, not afraid of his attempted way of scaring her. "I already told you, I am a keen observer." She placed her hand on his chest and pushed him back so he wouldn't be so close to her. The girl cocked her head to the side and folded her arms together before taking a breath. "Let me introduce myself first. I'm Giselle Ainsworth, and yes I admit, I can be a real bitch. But you know, a lot of people love me so." The girl smiled cockily as she said this, her smile now returning into a firm line. "Gee, now that we've met, let's get to the point. Obviously you want to fix things with your girlfriend because you love her right? Well, I'm willing to help you mend things with her unless you want to handle it your way." Giselle brought her fingers up to her face to analyze her nails. "You decide," she said.

Paul licked his lips, his glare hardening on the brown haired girl. Yes, he wanted so desperately to work things out with Dawn, but then again he was a bit curious on this Giselle girl that knew so much about him and even knew about the problem that he and Dawn were having right now, which indeed involved Ash. "How do you know Ash?" He asked her, wondering how she knew about him too. If she isn't stalking him, he at least wanted to have a good enough excuse of how she knew Ash was the problem in his relationship.

"I saw you punch him the other day," she dropped her hand back to her side as she took a step closer to him, the sound of her heels clacking onto the floor. "And I realized that your girlfriend instead stood by his side instead of rushing towards yours."

Paul groaned, annoyed with the fact that she witnessed that scene. But it did make sense of how she figured out that Ash might be the problem. He looked at her. "... I think she has feelings for him."

Giselle nodded her head, "That makes sense as to why you punched him."

"I could care less," Paul grumbled.

"So you're not certain if she has feelings for him? You're just... assuming she does?" Giselle raised her eyebrow.

Paul sighed. "Yeah, I think he has feelings for her too."

"Well, I could go talk to them both. Get to know them, just to see if I can get answers out of the both of them." Giselle suggested. "That is if you're willing to let me help you, unless you want to suffer finding out the hard way."

Paul glared at Giselle and Giselle smiled at him. "It's your choice Paul, not mine. You get to decide to trust me, it's _your_ choice."

Paul stared at the girl for the longest moment possible, not knowing what he should do. He doesn't even know this girl at all, and suddenly he ironically finds someone who can give him all the answers he wanted? Paul found it ridiculous, but then again the girl did have a point. If he doesn't let her help him, he is going to find out the truth the hard way and he honestly wasn't prepared for that.

Paul sighed, shooting another glare towards her. "Fine," He grunted. And Giselle smiled, clearly satisfied with his answer.

* * *

As class started, Giselle's eyes immediately fell on Dawn who had been busy concentrating on her schoolwork. The people around her were busy talking instead of doing their work and the teacher was barely paying attention to the class. Giselle decided to take advantage of this opportunity and took a seat next to Dawn, though Dawn's eyes remained on the paper in front of her, not happening to see the girl whom had just sat next to her.

"Hi," Giselle said, trying her hardest to be extra friendly. She wasn't the type to be really friendly, that was never her style. But if she had to get answers out of the girl, she had to be easy on her.

Dawn looked up from her paper and looked at the person who just spoke to her. "Hi...?" She said, obviously confused since Giselle never really talked to her before.

"I know this seems weird and all, because I never really talked to you, but I really think that you're a great dancer." Giselle told her.

Dawn stared at the girl for a moment before smiling. "Really?"

"Yeah, you're the best band dancer I've seen to be honest." Giselle chuckled lightly as Dawn smiled at her comment. Giselle smiled back at the girl, trying to figure out something else to say. "... So, I hear you're into basketball, is that true?"

"Well, not really, I only really watch basketball because one of my friends really likes it." Dawn told her, dropping her pencil onto her paper. "Are you?"

"Totally," Giselle flashed a hard smile towards her. "Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the game tonight. I don't exactly have anybody to go with, so how about we go together?"

Dawn's eyes lit up. "There's a game tonight?"

"Yeah," Giselle said.

"Sure, I would love to go!" She said, her voice sounding obviously happy.

Giselle kept smiling, "Okay," she said simply, narrowing her eyes towards her phone as she sent a quick text message to Paul.

_**She's going to the game with me tonight. I'll let you know what's up.**__**  
**_  
It wasn't until a second later he responded.

_**Get as much answers as you can out of her.**_

* * *

A whole bunch of people filled each and every seat of the stands inside the gym. Giselle couldn't believe it herself that the gym was this huge and had all of these people coming to attend the event. Was their schools basketball team really that big to have such a huge audience? Giselle looked toward the bottom to get a good view of the basketball field and the basketball players.

She sighed as the basketball game began, the people inside the gym screaming with excitement. Giselle looked over at all the people screaming and she even looked over at Dawn who had seemed to be screaming with them. Was she really a fan of basketball or was she just a fan because Ash is on the team?

"They got a hot crowd," Giselle shouted to Dawn, since everyone was pretty loud at the gym.

"Well they are considered the best basketball team in Sinnoh! Like how we are with the band." Dawn exclaimed. "It's actually cool because this school has many best things going on around here."

"I guess so." Giselle looked over at the game, seeing the game getting quite a bit intense.

* * *

"Ash!" Gary shouted as Ash whipped his head towards his spiky haired friend. Gary threw the ball towards him to his right so Ash could catch the ball. Ash quickly caught the ball and started dribbling the ball as he dodged most of the other basketball players that tried to get the ball from him.

He stood in the middle of the court; his black hair clung onto his forehead from all the sweat that left his body while playing the game. But Ash didn't really care about all that sweating, he was more concentrated on winning this game, especially since Basketball Season just started and their team has to win, it was no option.

He wanted to call the play, so he went toward the right side of the court, watching from the corner of his eyes that no defender would try and attempt stealing the ball from him.

Ash looked up at the clock and saw there was only 40 seconds left. It was now or never.

* * *

"With an amazing three pointer from Ash, the game has got even more intense!" The announcer shouted as the ball collided into the basket.

"Yay!" Dawn squealed in excitement, joy written all over her face. She looked over at Giselle. "He's amazing, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Giselle forced a small smile as Dawn returned to looking at the game. Giselle had to admit, Ash did a great job with that throw, but that really wasn't the focus right now. Dawn had just shown a sign of being interested in him, and Giselle needed to get more answers out of her for Paul. "So who's your favorite basketball player?"

"Ash," Dawn states, smiling hard as she continued to cheer for the boy and the team itself.

Giselle raised her eyebrow, pretending to be surprised. "Oh really?"

"He's amazing." Dawn said, her eyes still on the game. "Basketball is his dream and that's something he'll never let go of. He told me he wants to make it big, he wants a scholarship for basketball and he even wants to get into the NBA. Same as Gary and the rest of the team members, but Ash seems more serious about it than the rest of them."

Giselle nodded her head, taking in what the girl had just said. She looked down at her phone and decided to text Paul about this.

_**She's talking highly of him.**_

"That's great," Giselle mumbled, not sure of what to say in response to what Dawn had just said.

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked at the text message she just received from Paul.

_**Of course she is.**_

Giselle sighed as she tried to think of something else.

"How are you and Paul by the way?" She asked her, using this question as an advantage and to find out more information.

Giselle looked over at the girl and saw that the happiness on her face now fell to a more serious, unhappy kind of expression. She raised her eyebrow. Why did she look so unhappy after her bringing up her relationship with Paul?

"Um... We're fine I guess..." Dawn trailed off, not really in the mood to talk about him at all.

"What's going on? If you don't mind telling me," Giselle was even curious herself to find out why Dawn was feeling indifferent with Paul.

"Things change, I guess... He's just really confusing to read you know?" Dawn frowned, her attention not really focused on the game anymore. "I've been with him for almost two years, and I feel like he barely appreciates me. Whenever I'm happy, he seems so... unhappy. Whenever I'm unhappy, he seems so... careless. And whenever he's angry about something, he just... seems like he doesn't have a heart."

So that's what it is. Paul's personality—his tough guy personality, getting the best of him. Giselle sighed, understanding what is the real problem on Dawn's side of the story. It wasn't Ash, she probably just liked Ash as a friend and they've been friends for a while, but it looked like she cares more about Paul. She just felt like Paul barely shows that he cares.

Giselle grabbed her phone and sent a text to Paul.  
_**  
**__**I'll tell you everything later.**_

"Don't worry, darling. I'm sure he does care, he just has a hard way of showing it." Giselle smiled at her as she patted her on the shoulder. The girls returned to look at the game and Giselle let out a sigh.

Well, it was now time to go and see what's up with Ash.

* * *

Ash and Gary gave each other a fist bump for winning their first game at the start of Basketball Season. Football Season had just ended and now it was time for Basketball Season, so the boys were hyped.

"If we keep winning every game, we're most definitely gonna make it to nationals." Gary stated, grabbing his keys as the sound of his car made a loud beep noise after he pressed the unlock button.

Gary opened his car and pressed a button that opened the trunk to his car. Ash placed his basketball uniform along with his basketball in the trunk, as well as Gary. "I'm really pumped!" Ash said. "I'm getting better and better, and already I got noticed by one of the NBA players. Next thing we'll know, our basketball team is going to be noticed by all NBA teams!"

"And I can't wait for that," Gary laughed as he closed the trunk before heading to the front of his car.

Before the boys got in, a voice stopped them from doing so.

"You boys did amazing out there."

Gary looked over his car at the girl who called for them while Ash turned around from the other side of the car to look at the girl as well.

In a blink of an eye, Ash immediately became attracted to the girl before him.

Giselle smiled as she walked closer to them, her arms crossed over her chest and her heels clacking onto the ground as she took closer steps to them. Giselle stopped directly in front of Ash and stared at the bandage that was over his nose. "Ash Ketchum. The boy with amazing basketball skills got punched in the face? Ouch." Giselle said, smirking.

Ash scratched his head nervously, not knowing exactly what to say to the girl. Gary rolled his eyes, he knew Ash too well. Whenever he scratched his head, that obviously meant he was into the girl.

"Yeah, um..." Ash laughed nervously, quite embarrassed that a very attractive girl like her knew he got punched by Paul. He reminded himself to get back at Paul for this embarrassing moment. "Who are you?" He sheepishly asked.

"Let's skip the introductions." Giselle smiled purposely as she took a step forward and let her finger roam down his chest slowly and seductively.

Gary watched the scene, shocked that a girl like her was even flirting with Ash.

Giselle laughed lightly as she bit down on her bottom lip. "I want to..." She trailed off, her finger stopping at the top of his pants, causing Ash to get even more nervous than before. "Get to know you." She looked up at him as she said this.

Gary's jaw nearly dropped. There's no way in hell this girl was really interested in him. She had to be playing tricks on him just to get what she wants or something, but Gary knew for a fact that no sexy girl would randomly come up to Ash and seduce him without wanting something.

"I'm sorry; did you want me to get to know you too?" Giselle's eyes were now on Gary.

Gary just raised his hands in innocence. "Oh no," he shook his head, making a face. "I'm good."

Ash looked over at Gary, that surprised look still on his face.

"I'll let you two talk. Ash I'll be in the car." Gary forced a hard smile as he said this before getting inside his car and closing the door behind him. Though, that didn't stop him from looking at the two of them outside his car.

Giselle nodded her head in satisfaction, letting her eyes fall on Ash again.

Ash looked at her again, obviously at loss for words. "I don't even know you, but you are so..." He let his eyes devour her body from head to toe before he gulped. "Beautiful."

Giselle smiled, dropping her hand back to her side. "Thank you," she smiled. "Now tell me, are you currently interested in someone perhaps?"

Ash was obviously infatuated with her. "Yes," he said, sounding way too desperate. Giselle wanted to laugh on how nervous and how infatuated he was with her.

"And who is that?" She raised her eyebrow, folding her arms together.

"You," He told her. Giselle wanted to believe otherwise because of his obvious infatuation with her.

"No, I mean seriously." She laughed.

Ash scratched the back of his head nervously again. "Well I'm being serious... You,"

She nodded her head, still believing otherwise. "What about that Dawn girl? You guys seem to bond a lot."

Ash looked at her as if she was crazy. How did Dawn end up in this conversation? "She's my friend. I don't look at her that way."

"Are you sure?" Giselle raised her eyebrow.

Ash nodded his head, wondering why this girl brought up Dawn in the first place. "Yes... And besides Dawn has a boyfriend, I don't like girls that are in relationships."

"So if she was single you would like her?"

"No," Ash stared at Giselle for a short while, confused on how Dawn became a topic. "Why do you seem so certain that I have feelings for her?"

"Just curious, is all." Giselle answered simply. "So you say you don't have feelings for her?" Ash nodded in confirmation.

"Well okay," she nodded, not knowing what else to get out of him. Ash seemed so certain with his answer, so he must have been telling the truth.

"Can I take you out somewhere tomorrow?" Ash offered, surprising Giselle.

"What?" She stared at him in surprise.

"Can I take you out somewhere... tomorrow?" He repeated himself, hoping for her to say yes.

Giselle wanted to say no because she wasn't exactly the type that does romance, but then again she had agreed to help Paul as much as she can, so she sighed, not really wanting to take Ash up on that offer. "I would love that." She smiled, not knowing what else to say.

Giselle did find it weird that he hadn't flirted intimately with her. She was always so used to guys flirting with her that way when she began to flirt with them. Maybe Ash was different, but then again she hadn't known him at all, so she wasn't so sure if he was actually different. She had to see for herself.

* * *

"So what happened?" Paul asked, waiting for Giselle to tell him everything that went down that night. Giselle sighed before grabbing her glass of alcohol; she took a large sip of her alcohol before removing the glass from her lips.

"Dawn is unhappy with how you've been treating her." She took a seat on his bed, placing her right leg over the other.

Paul chuckled lightly. "I've been treating her good."

"According to her, she feels neglected." Giselle narrowed her eyes at him. "I think you should stop being a little prick and start giving the girl a little more attention."

"How much more attention does she want?" Paul rolled his eyes.

"Don't you get it?" The brown haired girl hardened her eyes on the purple haired senior. "I am a female. And _us_ females all want the same thing. Attention, obviously. Enough attention to the point that we do not feel neglected. And if she feels neglected, then obviously you're not doing something right."

Paul opened his mouth to speak, but no words seemed to come out. He didn't exactly know what to say because that's exactly what he has been doing this whole time with Dawn. He loved her a lot; he was just never good at expressing his love to her. To him, he has no idea how to give her the attention that she wants. He did have ways of expressing his love for her; he just never really knew how to properly treat a girl he actually really cares about.

When Giselle noticed he had nothing to say, she chuckled lightly. "Exactly," she said before taking another sip of her drink.

Paul turned his back to her, now annoyed.

"If it bothers you that much, take her out on a date." Giselle suggested. "And I honestly think that you should because if you keep stressing over Ash, you are going to push her away by the anger held up in you."

Paul chuckled, as if to believe otherwise. He turned to face the girl, taking a few slow steps closer to her.

"And just to clear things up, I think you should stop worrying about him because he doesn't have a thing for her. He has a thing for me." Giselle stated, bringing her drink back up to her lips.

Paul stood in front of her, "A thing for you?" He raised his eyebrows, putting the emphasis on 'you' as if to insult her.

Giselle swallowed the alcohol resting on her tongue, pulling the drink away from her lip as she stared at Paul. Paul stared at her too. Giselle slowly got up from the bed and took a small step towards him; their faces dangerously close along with their lips.

Paul could smell the alcohol from her breath, and Giselle bit down on her bottom lip. Paul just watched her do that, remaining calm and showing no emotion to that action.

"You'd be surprise with how many guys want me." She whispered seductively, her hot breath passing over his mouth. "Who knows, you might want me too..."

Paul stared at her for a long moment and so did she, their lips still dangerously close. Paul grunted and turned his back to her once again, grabbing his beer bottle that was placed on his dresser.

Giselle watched as he walked away from her, holding her drink and watching him from the back.

Paul dropped his head back and chugged down a large amount of alcohol before removing the bottle from his lips. "Is that what you do when you're bored?" He asked, sounding not fazed with her attempted gesture.

Giselle took a seat on his bed again and crossed one leg over the other. "Maybe I wanted to see if you would actually make a move."

Paul chuckled at her statement. Giselle wasn't his type at all. Yeah, she was extremely sexy, and he would totally fuck the shit out of her, but she wasn't Dawn.

"Hn." He grunted, not sure of how to respond to Giselle's comment.

Dawn wanted attention, but how much attention? Paul chugged down another large amount of alcohol from his beer bottle as he thought of a place to take her. He never really liked taking her to common places where guys always take their girlfriends like the movies, or to dinner. He wanted to be different and also make her happy.

A thought soon popped up to his head and he pulled out his phone and soon called Dawn.

Giselle placed her drink down on the table beside his bed and laid back on his bed, her arms spread out as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Dawn? Hey."

Giselle slowly let her eyes fall back on Paul as soon as she realized who he had just called.

"I know I really haven't been the best boyfriend lately... But I want to make it up to you."

Giselle rolled her eyes, not fazed with his lame attempt on trying to fix things with Dawn. Guys always say that after screwing things up.

"Great, um... I'll pick you up tomorrow at 8."

Giselle let out a big sigh before speaking as soon as he hung up the phone. "You are so not original." She slowly sat up on the bed now, looking over at him. She began to deepen her voice as if to mimic him. "I know I really haven't been the best boyfriend lately… But I want to make it up to you."

"Fuck you," he grumbled.

Giselle laughed. "I'm honestly surprised that she's giving you a chance to make it up to her. If I were her, I would've made you work really hard."

"What so you think I could've said something better?" He argued.

"No shit. You sounded like a huge dick. Saying the same line all assholes say." She deepened her voice once again to mock him. "I want to make it up to you." She rolled her eyes.

Paul shook his head, letting out a sigh as he brought his beer bottle up to his lips. "You make it seem like you're my girlfriend."

Giselle laughed at his comment. "You've got to be joking,"

Paul raised an eyebrow at her, swallowing the alcohol that was sitting on his tongue.

"Just so you know, I'm not really into the whole… relationship thing. Because for_ one_, guys say stupid shit like that." She pointed out, her hands placed down on the bed. "I like… mindless sex. You know, the ones without romantic commitment." Giselle let out a breath of air as her hair now fell to her back. "Relationships are so overrated to me. That's why I'm not in one."

Paul stared at the girl for a long moment and chuckled lightly. "You don't have no respect for yourself." He told her.

Giselle shrugged.

"That's why relationships don't work out for you." Paul brought his beer bottle up to his lips again.

Giselle hardened her eyes on him. "You don't know me."

After swallowing some of his alcohol, he pulled the beer bottle away from his lips. "And you don't know me." He retorted.

She let out a huff before speaking. "Enough about me, this isn't about me. I'm only here to help you save your relationship."

"Coming from someone who doesn't even know how to maintain a relationship," Paul chuckled, shaking his head.

Giselle's fists clenched at her side as she hardened her eyes on him twice as hard. "Just because I have a different way of viewing relationships doesn't mean I don't know how to maintain one."

Paul stared at her. She seemed so certain with her answer, but Paul felt like it was a bunch of bull. He turned his back to face her and went over to his dresser and placed his beer bottle on top of it. He would've said more, but he didn't want to make things bigger than it already was.

"So," she sighed, trying to calm herself down. "Where are you taking her?"

"Haven't decided yet," Paul answered.

"Well you better do your part." The girl mumbled, laying back down on his bed and closing her eyes.

Paul stared at the girl lying across his bed for a brief moment before closing his eyes, a small smirk forming on his face. "Hn."

That's exactly what he planned to do.

* * *

**A/N: I love how this story is turning out. (: **

**For those of you that are still confused about who Giselle is, do you guys remember that one episode in the first generation of Pokémon? The episode is called "The School of Hard Knocks". It was the episode when Ash and Brock developed a huge attraction to the girl with a Cubone, though she was a huge bitch at first and turned out nice at the end of the episode lol.**

**Well, I really liked her character in that episode that I wanted to write about her because her personality seemed really awesome lol. I like her because she seemed like a bitch and I think I can really get her into character within this story.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Please Don't Go by Nayobe**

**I have a thing with sneak peeks so here's a small sneak peek for the next upcoming chapters.**

"_**Dawn and I have been friends for years. I never once looked at her in a romantic way."**_

"_**Building a relationship with someone is not my style. I'd rather just fuck and that's it."**_

"_**Maybe it's time that you guys start having sex." Drew suggested.**_

"_**Sex doesn't define our relationship Paul."**_

"_**I'm not necessarily available."**_

"_**And you're not necessarily in a perfect relationship either, so what's the harm in having a little fun?"**_

**The sneak peeks may seem like it's all sexual-like, but each quote goes with different voices in this story. You will see who says all these quotes, I already gave out one, which had been Drew saying the line "Maybe it's time that you guys start having sex."**

**Anyway, from these sneak peeks, what do you guys think is going to happen now? Let me know your predictions in the reviews!**


	3. Orange and Dark Orange

**A/N: Umm, if I haven't mentioned before, this story will be focused on Ikarishipping and Pearlshipping. But the Pearlshipping is mostly Anti-Pearlshipping. There is also Goggleshipping(Ash and Giselle).**

**I don't have anything else to say, but continue to read! The story gets better and better.**

* * *

Paul watched her front door from the inside of his car intensely. He was waiting there for a few minutes already and he agreed that he would pick her up at 8. It's now 8:15 to be exact, but Paul remained calm. She is a girl and he always knew that Dawn liked to look _perfect _when going out on a date. But Paul always thought she was perfect; she didn't need to dress a certain way or wear her hair and make up a certain way to impress him.

Paul licked his lips and raised up the volume of the music that was playing inside his car.

"_I had nothing to say and I get lost in the nothingness inside of me. (I was confused) And I let it all out to find that I'm not the only person with these things in mind. (Inside of me.) But all that they can see the words revealed is the only real thing that I've got left to feel. (Nothing to lose) Just stuck, hollow and alone, and the fault is my own, and the fault is my own."_

Hopefully tonight will bring things back to the way they were before. The thought of Dawn having feelings for someone else pained him completely and he wasn't even so sure that she has feelings for Ash, it was just an assumption.

Paul sighed and looked out the window, this time he saw Dawn coming out of her house. She looked absolutely stunning, wearing her hair straight down, her bangs covering her forehead along with a pair of dark blue jeans, boots, and a peach blouse with a tight leather jacket. He watched as she walked around the car and then he opened the door for her.

He lowered his music down a bit, clearing his throat as he heard the passenger door close.

"Sorry for taking too long," Dawn sighed, placing her purse down onto her lap. "I was trying to figure out what to wear."

"It's fine." He said, beginning to start his car.

Dawn began to put on her seat belt before looking out the front window of the car. She soon realized that she hadn't been in this car before and it must have been new. "Is this a new car?"

"Yeah, it's actually a Mercedes Benz CLA 250. I got it when you were avoiding me." Paul smirked as he said this, beginning to drive.

"I hope you know that you're still giving me driving lessons." Dawn smiled, looking over at him.

"I don't remember promising that." Paul chuckled, "She's sensitive."

"She?" Dawn raised an eyebrow.

Paul looked at her for a split moment, then looked back at the road. "Yes, it's a she."

"You named it?" Dawn asked in surprise followed with an after laugh.

"Her name is Cookie." Paul mumbled, his eyes still on the road.

Dawn couldn't help but laugh ridiculously at the name he gave his car. "You did not name your car Cookie."

"Are you making fun of the name I gave her?" Paul questioned, pretending to be offended as he looked at her and then looked back at the front window. "Because I personally thought that name suits really well with her."

Dawn was still laughing at the name. "You are soo stupid Paul." She laughed, trying to gain her breath.

Paul smirked, sort of happy that he was actually making her laugh.

"Well, Cookie, looks really nice." Dawn complimented, still laughing.

"Thank you," Paul smiled, his eyes still on the front window.

"So where are you taking me?" She asked, now getting comfortable in her seat.

"How do you feel about bowling?" Paul raised his eyebrow, exchanging glances from the front window and to her.

"Oh my gosh! It's been forever since I bowled." Dawn screamed with excitement.

Paul smiled, knowing that she would be happy about going to bowl with him.

"I hope you're competitive." He said.

Dawn raised an eyebrow at his comment. "Oh, I am competitive. You haven't seen nothing yet Paul." She shot him a devious glare and he instantly saw it before letting his eyes fall back to the front window of his car.

Paul smirked. Tonight was going to be interesting.

* * *

"_Envy is a sign of admiration. Hate, is the epitome of destruction.."_

Dawn smiled brightly as she put her jacket around her chair before taking a glance around the bowling arena. It was filled with lots and lots of people.

"_Tal perece que mi amor crece y crece, pero tú desvaneces y me ofreces tu amistad sin otra excepción."_

"Oh I love this song," Dawn smiled, listening as the music played loudly throughout the music arena. "Romeo Santos is gorgeous," she said as she began singing along with the song. Paul just stared at her, not sure what she was saying or what the music was saying. He never really exactly knew Spanish, but he knew that Dawn is a huge fan of Romeo Santos and other Spanish artists.

Paul looked around and saw lots of people there too. He was even surprised himself to see that many people were here. But then again it was downtown, and usually people love going to downtown events.

"I'm gonna go pay and get our shoe sizes," Paul told Dawn.

Dawn nodded her head simply and sat down in a table near an open lane that wasn't being used.

Paul patted the top of her right shoulder for support and headed over to go pay to bowl.

"_Y por ti, vivo aniquilado en el despecho. Reprimido ardiendo por los celos, lo odio aunque el te haga feliz."_

The music that was playing wasn't so bad, though he had no idea what was being said in the song, he still liked the song however.

Paul sighed and let his eyes wander off towards Dawn while he waited in line.

She looked so beautiful, especially with the lighting that was against her. The bowling arena currently had their lighting in blue, while a lot of people's clothes glowed in the dark, including hers. Paul looked down at his clothes, but then realized that black usually doesn't glow in the dark, so he just shrugged it off.

Dawn's peach blouse glowed pretty bright, that's a sight that he couldn't seem to miss.

"Next," A male employee said loud enough to break Paul out of his thoughts.

"Oh," Paul pulled out his money and gave the guy a $20 dollar bill. He knew that would be enough for the game and for the shoes. He added an additional $10 dollar bill to buy him and Dawn a drink. "I need sizes 10 and 6 ½."

"I'll also have one perfect margarita and one strawberry margarita." He added. The employee took the money and nodded his head, first turning around to get their shoe sizes.

While the employee searched for their shoe sizes, Paul let his eyes wander off towards Dawn again. That small smile that was on his face only moments ago changing into a hard firm line; his whole mood changed.

_He _had came.

Just when Paul thought he was starting to get things right with Dawn, it went straight to a burden. What the hell was _he _doing here anyway?

After taking a closer look at the raven haired basketball player, he soon spotted that familiar shade of dark brown hair next to him. Giselle. Paul's anger only deepened more at the sight.

"Ahem." The employee cleared his throat, sounding rather impatient with Paul. Paul broke out of his angry thoughts and turned his eyes onto the employee. He gave him a questioning look, as if he forgot what he was currently doing. The employee moved the shoes closer on the high counter that was in between them to Paul as soon as he realized that questioning look on his face. "Here's your shoes. Your margaritas will be ready in 10 minutes."

Paul soon remembered why he was here in the first place and he nodded his head, taking the shoes as he turned away, beginning to walk towards the scene he had just witnessed.

"Hey Paul!" Ash shouted, in his usual outgoing voice. Paul made a face though. Why the hell was he saying _hey_ to him? He wanted to punch his face in again.

Dawn's current smile that was on her face slowly faded away as she let her eyes fall on Paul. Paul met eye contact with her too. She looked nervous and also worried. He wondered if she was worried about him being around Ash after her witnessing what he did to the guy the other day.

It's not like he didn't deserve it, Paul thought. Ash did have a clear band aid over his nose, and Paul smirked slightly at this.

Paul groaned when Ash continued to talk to him.

"I know you punched me the other day, but I'm cool with it." Ash told him, laughing lightly.

Paul kept a blank stare on Ash, not really caring about what Ash had to say. "But I just want to let you know that if you punched me because you think I got some sort of feelings for Dawn, you're wrong on that part."

Paul's anger slowly subsided as soon as he heard that last statement.

"Dawn and I have been friends for years. I never once looked at her in a romantic way." Ash confessed, sounding serious. Paul kept his eyes on Ash as he said this, but Paul quickly caught a glance at the pained look that just crossed over Dawn's face.

"Besides, though we never really talked much. I consider you as a close friend of mines and I don't go for my friend's girls. It's guy code." The raven haired basketball player nodded simply and turned to look at Giselle. "Well, I'm gonna go get our shoe sizes. What size are you?"

"7." She answered. Ash turned simply and walked over to go pay for the event and for his and Giselle's shoes.

Paul blinked, not sure of what had happened just now. He looked over at Dawn who was looking at him. She looked beyond hurt in the face, but she quickly tore her eyes off of him as if to hide the fact that she was actually hurt about what Ash had to say.

That anger that subsided in Paul's body soon returned, but he didn't let it show. He let out an angry quiet sigh and handed her her shoes as he placed his shoes on a seat beside her. Paul didn't say a word to her, he just turned away and grabbed Giselle's wrist, guiding her to an area where he could talk to her without Dawn or Ash having to hear what he had to say.

Giselle crossed her arms over her chest and let the corner of her head rest on the wall they were next to.

"What the hell are you doing here with him?" Paul groaned, really upset.

"Would you relax?" Giselle rolled her eyes. "You didn't exactly tell me where you were going to take her tonight so I had no idea you would be here of all places."

Paul stared at her with a hard look.

"And anyway, Ash asked me to come. I mean, he is insanely hot." She bit down on her bottom lip as she said this. "And I plan to fuck him senseless."

Paul rolled his eyes, not really in the mood with her sarcastic jokes. "Well, now that you know that we're here, you and him should leave."

"No," Giselle argued, pushing herself off from the wall she was leaning against. "Just because you and her are here doesn't mean we have to leave. I know I said I'd help you with your little relationship problems, but I don't remember saying that you can boss me around."

Paul groaned again, becoming even more frustrated. "You two are a huge distraction."

"What are you worrying about? He told you he has no feelings for her so why are you still hung up about it?" Giselle questioned, raising her eyebrow.

Paul breathed angrily and let his eyes fall on Dawn again who was currently looking around at everyone in the bowling arena, though she still had that hurt look still visible on her face.

"…She has feelings for him."

Giselle opened her mouth to protest, but instead her eyebrows furrowed together and she looked over at Dawn, seeing the exact same thing that Paul was seeing on her face.

Paul narrowed his eyes on the employee who was calling for him and he quickly brushed past Giselle and went to go get the drinks he bought.

Ash was busy grabbing his shoe sizes that he got for himself and Giselle, but Paul avoided speaking to him. Instead, he grabbed his drinks, muttering a "thanks" and walked off.

"_Me dijeron que te vieron por ahi que te encuentras muy bien y no piensas en mi…"_

Another Spanish song was now playing.

"Here,"

Dawn broke out of her thoughts and looked up to see Paul who was holding a Strawberry Margarita in his hand. She smiled a little because he knew that strawberry margarita was one of her favorite drinks. Dawn grabbed her drink. "Thank you."

"Hn." Paul grunted, walking over to the large touch screen to start setting up the game.

"I hope that's the right size," Ash said as he handed Giselle her shoes.

Giselle laughed lightly as she started changing out her shoes into bowling shoes.

"It's the right size," she flipped her hair to her back as she got up, ready to bowl. "I hope you know that I'm going to beat your ass."

Ash sucked his teeth, changing into his bowling shoes. "Yeah right," he said, believing otherwise.

Dawn took another large sip of her margarita before changing into her bowling shoes.

Paul sighed, knowing that Giselle and Ash weren't gonna play in a different lane, so he put their names onto the list as well. First it was Dawn's, then it was his, then Giselle, and then Ash.

As soon as he finished, he turned around. "The game is up." He said plainly as he went to grab his shoes and took a seat before changing into the bowling shoes.

All eyes went onto the screen on the ceiling and Dawn saw that it was her turn first, so Dawn got up and smiled just lightly, a little too lightly.

That feeling that Paul was feeling moments ago returned. Why was she so bothered with what Ash had said? He didn't understand…

He watched as she grabbed a purple bowling ball and stopped just a few feet away from the middle of the lane before running up and letting the ball swing from her hand and land onto the hard floor, rolling down the lane.

Paul watched intensely with his eyes.

The ball hit 8 pins in the first round, but Paul wasn't really focused on the game at the moment, he was more focused on Dawn's sudden change in behavior.

"Woo! Go Dawn!" Ash yelled. Paul quickly clenched his fists as soon as he heard Ash cheering for Dawn.

Dawn giggled lightly as she went to get another ball for her second round. This time the ball was blue, the same color as her hair. She stared hard at the last two pins and went toward the left corner of the lane and threw a hard swing, the ball falling from her hand and onto the floor. It wasn't until a second later, she knocked out the last two pins and made a score of 10.

Paul raised an eyebrow. That sad face she had only a few seconds ago vanished into a happy one and Paul found himself wondering if it was because Ash began to cheer her on.

"Damn Dawn, you're good!" Ash gave her a fist bump. Dawn smiled again, "Well, bowling is my hobby."

Paul's fists clenched even tighter.

"Paul, it's your turn." Ash told Paul. Paul shot a cold look towards Ash and stared at him for a short moment. He eventually tore his eyes off of the raven haired teen and went to grab a green bowling ball with rage.

He just wanted so desperately to punch Ash's face in once again, but for what reason? Ash already admitted to him that he has no feelings for Dawn. But could he be lying to him? Paul shook his head, staring hard at the pins before him. Dawn obviously had feelings for Ash. It was way too obvious and it pained him to know that he will never be good enough for her because in his eyes, all he sees is her focusing more on Ash and not him. Ash must be doing something right, while he was doing things wrong.

Without any concentration, Paul threw the ball with a hard forceful swing as the bowling ball quickly moved in a fast pace through the lane in the middle in 0.4 seconds and instantly took down all the pins.

Paul was breathing heavily, anger held high inside of him. A strike, so that meant he made a complete shot.

"Damn Paul, you got skills." Giselle said, sort of impressed as she got up and went to go get her bowling ball since it was her turn.

"_Que si decides regresar aqui estare esperandote, ya no lo pienses mujer ven y entregate. Es que no puedo aguantar las ganas de amarte y de besarte igual que ayer… igual que ayer…"_

Paul stood in front of the lane, not moving. Giselle was the only one that noticed his behavior so she walked up to him, holding her bowling ball. "Hey, lighten up," she said lowly for him to hear. "They're playing great music, music that comes from where I'm from since I'm part Puerto Rican." She lowered her voice a bit more just in case. "Don't give up. Just because today didn't go well, doesn't mean tomorrow won't either. You're going to get her back."

Paul blinked, taking in every word that Giselle just said and cleared his throat. He just looked at her for a brief moment before turning around and taking a seat next to Dawn.

As the rest of the night went on, Paul continued to pay attention to Dawn's actions, especially around Ash. Paul believed she has feelings for him, but when Ash told him that he had no feelings for Dawn, she looked heartbroken. And now, all of a sudden, she was happy again around him. That's something that didn't make sense at all. But one thing that he really did notice is the difference in her smile. The smile she gave Ash was much more realistic than the one she usually gives him. Paul frowned at this.

Of course, she would prefer the guy who was completely opposite from him. Paul was too different, too cold-hearted while Ash was too social also too humble, something that Paul was never really good at.

To Paul, Ash seemed just like Dawn in a way, though he was the male version of her with little differences. If opposites attract, then why is Dawn paying more attention to Ash than him?

Paul let the heavy weighted bowling ball fly from his hands and watched it drop down onto the hard floor, quickly hitting all the pins within 0.2 seconds, earning another perfect strike.

She no longer saw the light in him.

* * *

The brown haired beauty got comfortable in the passenger seat as she felt the car pull to a stop only inches away from her house. She turned her head to Ash.

"I hope you had a great time," he smiled, his hand remaining on the wheel. "I know I sure did."

Giselle laughed lightly, sitting up a bit. "I could've won you know, I was only ten points away from you."

"Ten points wouldn't have made a difference." Ash pointed out, sounding very egotistic.

Giselle rolled her eyes. "Hilarious," she muttered in a sarcastic tone.

It started to get quiet when she realized that he had been staring at her.

It remained quiet for a few moments before Ash finally said something. "Well, goodnight." He said, smiling at her sweetly.

Giselle stared at him, wondering why he was saying goodnight and at such an early time too. They were in Veilstone City and it was the city that never sleeps. "Trying to escape so soon?" She questioned. Ash raised an eyebrow. "I don't have curfew." She smirked. "You can borrow me for as long as you want."

Ash stared at her for a short moment, licking his lips. "Oh, well… What would you like to do then?"

Giselle stared at him too for a bit as the car now fell silent, the only sound in the car being the music that was now playing.

She did agree to help Paul with his relationship and take care of things with Ash, but that didn't mean she couldn't at least have a little fun with him. Giselle even found Ash insanely attractive so she couldn't help herself.

Giselle let her palm fall on his cheek while Ash remained calm, a little surprised that she had touched his face. "This," she whispered as she leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips.

"_Under investigation, lies a bitter heart… let the poison sink it, let it leave its mark."_

Their lips remained pressed together for a few seconds before Giselle pulled away a little to look him in the eye.

"_There used to be a likeness, used to be a spark. Broken communication, let it go too far."_

After exchanging glances from his eyes to his lips, she pressed her lips onto his again, this time harder than before. She continued to kiss him more and more, her body starting to heat up as she began to climb over him.

"_Come closer. Deep down… You might like what I've found.."_

Giselle removed her lips from Ash's as she began ripping his shirt open. Ash watched her in surprise, not exactly knowing what to do. She slammed her lips onto his again as she let her hands fall to the top of his pants, beginning to unbuckle his belt.

As soon as Ash felt this, he instantly grabbed her hands and pulled away from the kiss. Giselle stared at him in surprise at the sudden unexpected action.

"I can't," he gasped. "You can't, we can't." He said.

Blinking for what seemed over several times, Giselle furrowed her eyebrows together. "Why not?"

"I'm not ready." He admitted, not knowing what else to say. "I mean, I am, but I want to do it the right way, not this way."

"The right way?" Giselle raised her eyebrow. "The hell?" She started to get upset.

"I like you a lot, Giselle. But I want to take things slow with you, if that's okay." Ash sighed as he said this, hoping that she wouldn't be upset with him. "We just met."

"Oh, um," Giselle's eyebrows furrowed even more together. "Take things slow, okay." She nodded her head briefly as she started to climb off of him and into the passenger seat as she began gathering her things.

Ash watched as she began gathering her things, realizing what she was doing as he furrowed his eyebrows together. "What are you doing?"

"Take things slow? Are you serious?" Giselle laughed. "Building a relationship with someone is not my style. I'd rather just fuck and that's it." She said with an attitude as she continued gathering her things.

"Why?" Ash asked her, confused.

"Because at least having mindless sex has nothing to do with involving your emotions." Giselle turned to face Ash, now finished with gathering her things together. "Relationships has everything to do with that." She said finally, beginning to climb out of the car. "And you know what?" She said as she got up out of the car, standing on the sidewalk and facing him. "I take what I said back. You don't get to borrow me anymore. Have a great night, Ketchum." She slammed the door close as she began walking off towards her front door.

Ash watched as the girl left, frowning softly. He really liked her, he liked her enough to the point that after witnessing this and after hearing what she had just said, she was obviously confused about the world's perspective and Ash was willing to teach her about it.

* * *

The green haired 17-year old pressed the cigarette up to his lips as he inhaled the smoke. He closed his eyes as he let the smoke escape from his mouth, the smoke colliding amongst the wind.

Drew stared at all the tall buildings, standing outside with just a white tank top and a pair of sweatpants. He was currently on the roof of his apartment building, smoking with Paul.

The rooftop was always the place they hung out at because they were best friends for years. And eventually the two grew up, they started trying out dangerous things like going on the rooftop and jumping onto other buildings. They were crazy, but they were city boys so they knew really well about the city and about the streets.

The wind blew against Paul's face, his hair moving with the wind. He stared at the buildings and also got a good view of all the stores and cars on the ground level. Paul brought his cigarette up to his mouth.

"Life is so fucked up." Paul said as smoke came out of his mouth.

"What's up?" Drew turned to face him, shoving one hand inside his pocket. "I heard about you punching Ash. What was that about?"

Paul was still staring at the ground level, returning his cigarette back to his lips as he inhaled the smoke. "Dawn has feelings for him."

Paul heard Drew laugh, assuming that he had been joking. Smoke left out of Paul's mouth as he stared at Drew with a blank look.

It took only a second for Drew to realize he wasn't kidding. "Wait, you're serious?"

"No, I'm kidding." Paul made an annoyed look, rolling his eyes.

"Dawn has feelings for Ash? Since when?" Drew raised his eyebrow, confused with hearing information like this. Dawn is a good girl for Paul, but after hearing information like this, he wondered otherwise.

"She has liked him for 7 years." Paul told him. Though it did sound like he was over-exaggerating, but truly he wasn't. She really has liked him for that long because those two have been really good friends and she's always so happy around him and always used to talk about Ash a lot. Once she started dating Paul a year and a half ago, her talk about Ash subsided but he had always seen that same happiness in her eyes whenever she was around Ash.

"No way. Dawn is crazy about you." Drew denied, not believing it one bit.

Paul sighed. "I'm not stupid. I know what I'm seeing. She always had a thing for him."

"Ash doesn't even show any interest in her. He has a thing for this one girl who seems way out of his league though." Drew answered, having to have heard about his recent activities.

"Giselle?" Paul raised his eyebrow. That's the only girl he really knew about that was way over Ash's league and especially since he had been hanging out with Giselle a lot lately.

"Yeah. She's hot as hell, but don't tell May I said that." Drew chuckled. "But I do find it surprising that Ash likes a girl who seems to be just focused on sex and games. That's usually not the kind of girls he's usually interested in."

Paul shrugged, not really caring. As long as Giselle distracts him enough from Dawn, he could really care less. As for Dawn, he had no idea what to do about her.

"I just want her back." Paul frowned, dropping his cigarette to his side, still holding it in between his fingers.

"Maybe it's time that you guys start having sex." Drew suggested, not knowing what else to suggest. "I think that will probably help you two get back to the way you were."

Paul chuckled lightly, turning to face him. "She's a virgin."

"Oh," Drew ran a hand through his green hair as he tried to think of something else to suggest. "Well… Um… You should try to get her to have sex with you."

Paul groaned, not really in the mood to try anything sexual with her, though he would like to deep down. That's something he always wanted to have with her, but he was willing to wait until whenever she was ready. "And how exactly is that helping me?"

"If you get her to have sex with you, then that shows that she loves you because she's giving her virginity to you. If she doesn't give it to you, then that means that she doesn't love you." Drew told him. "It's the best way to figure out if she has feelings for Ash."

"I can't do that." Paul sighed, thinking the idea was a bit bizarre. "I would feel bad using her just to find out if her feelings for me are real."

"It doesn't hurt to try and get the truth out of her." Drew mumbled as he let out a small breath of air. "You love her. All you're doing is trying to find out if you're the better man."

Drew brought his phone out as he looked at the time. "Well, I have to go." He threw his cigarette over the roof as it fell down onto the ground which was several feet away from where they were.

Drew turned to pat his friend on the shoulder. "I'm sure she loves you. Don't worry about it." His hand soon fell from Paul's shoulder as he walked away.

Paul's eyes slowly reverted to the buildings again, thinking hard. Maybe Drew was right, maybe he had to take his relationship to the next level just to define what they are so far. He needed to know what they were because right now, he had no idea.

Paul closed his eyes as he brought his cigarette back up to his lips.

He couldn't believe he was actually taking Drew's idea into consideration.

* * *

**A/N: What do you guys think about Dawn and Ash? Do you think Dawn has feelings for Ash? And do you think Ash could be lying about his feelings for Dawn? Paul seems to think so, but what do you guys think? Let me know in the reviews. Also let me know your predictions for the upcoming chapters.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park, Odio by Romeo Santos ft. Drake, Igual Que Ayer by Rakim y Keny, Bad Intentions by Digital Daggers**

**This story is gonna get better and better**.


	4. Dark Orange

**A/N: So I got like 10 chapters done already for this story, but I am still trying to come up with a nice ending. You guys don't have to worry about the ending now though because that's nowhere near soon, but I plan for the ending to follow the song My Black Dahlia by Hollywood Undead…if that's some kind of spoiler lol, oops :p**

**Anyway, enjoy this crazy chapter. I also must say there is really strong language in this chapter.**

* * *

The blue haired beauty stopped in front of her locker as she quickly inserted the combination to her lock and opened it along with her locker. She replaced the books she had in her hands along with a Spanish lll book and a binder. She closed her locker briefly before flinching in surprise after spotting Giselle beside her. Giselle stared at her for a bit and then smiled deviously, chuckling at her reaction. "Hello Dawn,"

"Hi Giselle," Dawn smiled partially as she began walking off, listening as Giselle walked beside her.

"So what are you doing later?" Giselle asked, her heels clacking along the floor as she walked beside the blue haired girl.

"Probably staying after school to practice dancing." Dawn mumbled.

"What for?"

"An audition I have a month from now." Dawn answered, pulling her books closer to her chest.

"Oh," Giselle mumbled, continuing to walk beside the girl.

Dawn kept her eyes on the hall. "So how's everything with you and Ash?" She heard Giselle ask her.

"Everything's fine,"

"Do you like him?"

"Ash?" Dawn raised her eyebrow. "We're just friends."

Giselle scoffed, as if to believe otherwise. Dawn looked at Giselle after realizing that Giselle had been assuming that she had been wrong. "You are a terrible liar," Dawn heard her say from under her breath.

Dawn stopped in her tracks as she heard Giselle say that and Giselle just looked at her, smiling innocently at her and then placed her hand upon her hip. "I'm dating Paul." Dawn said.

"Yeah, but deep down inside you want Ash more." The brunette told her. Dawn furrowed her eyebrows together quickly.

"Excuse me?" Dawn blurted out.

"Come on, stop trying to deny the truth. Ash is insanely hot, and plus he's the captain of the varsity basketball team." Giselle stood in front of her, hardening her eyes on the girl slightly. "I wouldn't blame you for having feelings for the guy."

"I don't," Dawn denied. "Besides, don't you like him? I think it's a little weird how you assume that I even look at him that way when I have a boyfriend."

"Yeah, a boyfriend whom _you _said doesn't treat you right." Giselle shot back.

Dawn stood quiet, and Giselle shook her head. "You know, I'm dying to know what is it about Ash who seems to take all your attention away from Paul. He must know how to treat a girl then,"

Dawn stared at Giselle for the longest moment possible and sucked her teeth before walking away.

Giselle rolled her eyes, "You're so dramatic," she said under her breath as she followed behind her.

"It would do us both a favor if you stop lying and admit that you not only have feelings for your boyfriend, Paul, but you also have feelings for Ash."

Dawn scoffed, "Yeah, keep thinking that."

"What, you can't accept the truth?"

Dawn stopped in her tracks again and turned to face the girl before her. She glared at her. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you really need to get off my back."

"Why? Because you know that I'm right?"

"No, you're wrong. Ash is just my friend, and that is all. Paul is my boyfriend, he's the only guy I have feelings for. I would never hurt him that way."

Giselle chuckled. "As if,"

Dawn raised her eyebrow.

"If I could put a lie detector test on you, there would be a whole nother story." Giselle told her.

"You wish," Dawn muttered.

"You're no good for Paul." Giselle argued, a serious look on her face now.

"And you're no good for Ash." Dawn shot back, a serious look on her face too.

The brunette smiled slightly at that comment and took a small step toward her, her face really close to Dawn's. "You may be right about that, but at least… _I _know how to play the game. Unlike you, you make it so obvious that you have feelings for Ash. Paul isn't stupid, you know."

With that being said, Giselle walked off without listening to what else Dawn had to say.

Giselle personally wanted to find out about Ash herself, and she felt that Paul might've been right about Dawn's feelings. After hanging out with Ash for just one day, she couldn't find not one thing Dawn might like about Ash. He seemed really boring to her and she also didn't like the fact that he had rejected sex from her. What guy does that?

Giselle might have been judging him a bit too early though. She had to find out more about him for herself.

* * *

Giselle stopped in front of the weight room's large window and took a glance inside. Usually when she walks around the city, she usually stops at all the clothing stores to go shopping, but instead she wanted to see what Ash was up to. After learning about his daily routines from some of his friends, she knew he would be there on a Friday. And it was currently Friday, so she had to see him.

Giselle squinted her eyes to take a brief look inside the weight room and instantly saw Ash laying on his back shirtless while lifting what seemed to be a really heavy weight, with Gary beside him, holding a rag on his head.

Ash looked insanely hot lifting weights and he had a nice muscular body shape. Giselle couldn't help but stare at his body and at him.

Ash continued to lift those weights, letting out a hard breath of air every time he lifted the weight up. Gary was wiping the back of his neck with a rag. "So how are things going with you and that girl?"

The raven-haired teen continued to lift the weight before answering his best friend's question. "Not too good."

"How come?" Gary raised his eyebrow, still wiping off the sweat he had forming on his face. He was working out just as hard as Ash.

Giselle had no idea what they were talking about inside because the windows were sound proof. She bit down on her bottom lip and walked toward the corner end of the window, so if she were spotted, she can instantly hide.

She then reverted her attention back onto the two guys, her attention more focused on Ash.

Ash placed the weight above his head and set it down on the rack. Gary watched as his friend began to sit up, letting out heavy breaths. Ash grabbed his rag and began to wipe off sweat that was forming on his head as well.

"She's really confusing. I've never met a girl like her," He began to move the rag toward his neck. "I have to figure her out."

Ash sighed as he wiped the back of his neck, his eyes slowly narrowing towards the large window and he instantly spotted Giselle standing outside of it and looking right at him.

Giselle's eyes instantly widened when she saw him looking right at her. She instantly turned her back toward the window and quickly moved away from the window, resting her back against a brick red wall.

"Hmm," Gary looked at Ash and saw that Ash was looking out the window for a bit and he looked at the window too, wondering what Ash was looking at.

"What are you looking at?" Gary asked, confused of what he had been staring at.

Ash got up on his feet and looked at the window for a little while longer before looking over at Gary. "… Nothing. I thought I saw something." Ash nodded his head as he grabbed his water bottle and walked passed Gary.

Giselle let out a shaky breath and pushed her body off of the brick wall, beginning to walk down the sidewalk where a lot of people were walking on.

She didn't know why she was so nervous that he had spotted her, but she couldn't deny the fact that she desperately wanted to see him working out and that was one amazing sight.

* * *

The sun began to go down and the moon and the stars soon covered the sky, making the outside dark. The city's street lights and of course the cities lights made the night look beautiful. It was most definitely the city of dreams and also the city that never sleeps.

Paul contemplated in his car, thinking of what he should do. Should he take Drew's advice or should he not?

Paul sighed, looking over at Dawn's window once more, still seeing her light on, but no shadow of her. The advice Drew gave him seemed like a tough one, but then again Paul did wonder if she truly loves him. From what he knows, girl's usually give their virginity to the person they love and trust, not to just anybody and if Dawn gave that to him then that would be just enough evidence to prove that he was just overthinking things about Ash and that she really does love him. But as of right now, he had no idea how she feels about him.

Paul sighed as he finally made a decision, turning off his car and getting out of the car.

Fuck it, he was going to find out how she really feels about him and nothing was stopping him.

He walked towards the side of the house and searched for a ladder before placing it against Dawn's window sill. He always had the ladder hidden in between the bushes that was leaning against the side of the house, so her mother had never really noticed it there. And he only came to her house on rare occasions, mainly because he always snuck inside her house or since he knows how strict her mother can be he rarely shows up. Johanna is a strict mother, as far as he remembers.

As Paul climbed up the ladder, he was quick to climb quietly and to not make any noise. As he reached the top, he saw Dawn lying down on her bed with her hair messily down running past her shoulders. She was wearing a sapphire blue tank top along with peach colored shorts.

Paul didn't want to disturb her from looking at whatever she was looking at in her phone, but then again he was not about to be standing on a ladder especially after climbing all the way to the top. He lifted his fist and knocked on her window, quickly catching her turning her eyes from her phone to the window.

Paul watched as she stared at him, noticing that she had a surprised look on her face as she got up and walked over to him. He let out a breath of air as she lifted the window up, placing her hands against the window sill. "Paul, what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you." Paul answered, smiling as he said this before leaning in to kiss her.

Dawn acknowledged the kiss before pulling away and helped Paul get inside her room. As soon as he got in, she closed the window and then turned to him.

"I was just looking at a lot of auditions that dancers did for the Veilstone Dance University. I'm trying to see what they got going so that way when I have my audition, I'll do great." She said.

Paul licked his lips. "You already got all your dancing down packed, no need to stress over it." He started walking over to her from behind, now taking advantage of the advice Drew gave him.

Dawn's breathing hitched as soon as she felt Paul's muscular body pressing against her back, and his hands resting on each side of her arms as he placed wet kisses along her bare shoulders. His hands started gliding slowly down her arms as he grabbed a hold of her hands into his and started trailing kisses from her shoulders to her neck. Dawn's eyes soon fell closed and she let out a small breath of air.

Paul's hands soon fell to the pit of her legs as he hoisted her up and put her on top of her bed. Dawn looked up at him as he hovered over her.

Paul placed his lips against hers as Dawn let her hands fall on his shoulders, breathing against his lips. He removed his mouth from hers and put his hand up her shirt, quickly grabbing a hold of her right breast. Dawn moaned in response but she quickly pushed him back aggressively as his hand soon retreated from her breast and his body leaving hers as he now sat up. Paul raised his eyebrow at the surprising action.

"Paul," she said in surprise.

"Sorry." He said bluntly.

Dawn slowly sat up on the bed too, her hair falling to her back. "I'm sorry too." She frowned. Dawn stared at him in surprise. "It's just... I'm not ready yet."

Paul stared at her for a little while longer before speaking. "What?"

Dawn sighed. "You were taking things a little too fast. I'm not ready Paul."

"Too fast?" He raised his eyebrow. Paul removed his eyes from her. Of course, she rejected him. She doesn't want to lose it to him, she wants to lose it to Ash. "You know what, fuck that, I'm not sorry." He said angrily, moving his eyes back to her. "What are you afraid of? I give you all the love and everything you've ever wanted and you don't even want to have sex with me?"

Dawn blinked, shocked at Paul's sudden outburst. Her emotion quickly reflected off of his. "Sex doesn't define our relationship Paul."

"I never said it did." Paul spat. "I always respected your desires."

"Then why are you so upset about me saying that I'm not ready?" She said, now becoming upset.

"Because you've known me for over a year. Never have I tried to get you to do something you didn't want to do." He argued.

"I already told you my reasons." She shouted, careful not to be so loud so that her mother wouldn't walk into her room.

"What, do you not trust me? You told me you loved me Dawn." Paul stood up as he said this and turned to face her, anger in his face.

"I do, Paul." She said, her anger slowly subsiding.

"Then what's wrong?" He shouted, waiting for an answer from her.

Dawn stared at him for what seemed like the longest period of time before speaking. "Because you've never said the words back."

Paul stared at her, at a loss for words.

She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and licked her lips. "… You probably do love me, but lately it seems like you don't. And because of that, I don't… I don't trust you to have that part of me."

After listening to that last part of the sentence, Paul did not know what to say after that. Those words simply hit him in the heart and it sure did hurt like hell.

Paul just simply nodded his head and turned around without saying bye or anything. He lifted her window up and began to climb down the ladder.

He was right. She didn't love him like the way he did. Yeah, he never said the words back, but he always showed it through his actions. When she said the words, it was rarely shown by her actions but mostly with words.

_Wow, so she doesn't trust me…_

* * *

Giselle plopped down on the couch as she grabbed a bowl of chocolate covered dipped strawberries and placed one inside her mouth before chewing. Giselle made sure to turn her music up loud.

"_Ahhhhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhh. Peleamos, nos arreglamos. Nos mantenemos en esa pero nos amamos ay vamos."_

Paul walked into his living room and made a hard look when he saw Giselle moving her head with the music, her eyes closed and eating strawberries at the same time. He rolled his eyes though, not really caring about her at the moment.

Giselle looked over at Paul who looked angry with the world and she smirked, getting up on her feet as she walked over to him. "So why are you so mad?" She made a puppy face and then laughed and took another bite of her strawberry.

Paul ignored her as he fixed himself a glass of alcohol or two. Giselle watched as she placed the finishing part of her strawberry into her mouth and left the tree part on the counter. She placed her hands on each side of the counter and hoisted herself up onto the counter, grabbing her bowl of strawberries into her lap.

"Come on, Mr. Grumpy." Giselle smiled, joking around. "What's wrong?"

"Dawn," he mumbled, chugging down a whole lot of alcohol.

Giselle watched him as she grabbed another strawberry and shoved it inside of her mouth. "What, you still think she's got feelings for Ash?" She said with a mouthful.

"That's exactly the point." Paul groaned, continuing to chug down a lot of alcohol.

"You sure are drinking a lot of alcohol." She noticed after swallowing her strawberry, dropping the tree part into the bowl. "What happened tonight?"

"I tried to have sex with her, but she rejected me." He shook his head as he said this, again drinking more of the Bacardi bottle.

Giselle laughed lightly. "Well why? Don't you guys have sex like plenty of times?"

"Not exactly." He turned around as he grabbed one of the strawberries in her bowl and placed one inside of his mouth.

The brunette placed the bowl on top of the counter. "That's strange. Is she like a virgin or something?"

"Yeah," he swallowed his strawberry, placing the tree part in the bowl and then grabbed his Bacardi bottle again as he took another large chug before removing the bottle from his lips. "She said she wasn't ready and I got upset, then she told me the reason was because I never told her I love her back so she doesn't trust me with her body." He said after pulling the drink away from his lips.

"Well that's understandable." Giselle said. "Whenever a female tells you she loves you, she expects for you to say it back rather than say nothing at all."

Paul's eyebrows furrowed together. "Yeah, but every time she says it, I don't believe it." He argued. "I don't feel it."

"Is it because you still think she's got feelings for Ash?"

"She doesn't have to say that she does, she shows it." Paul's fist clenched at his side. "And I just hate it because she looks at him like the way she used to look at me." It was true. Yeah, Dawn may have said those three words to him, but she obviously loves Ash and not him.

"But Ash doesn't look at her that way. He has a thing for me, remember?" The brunette told him, trying to calm him down a bit.

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. I can't get her to want me more than she wants him. It's like he's too fucking perfect, the kind of perfect she always dreamed of." He wanted to punch something, but he remained his cool.

"Perfect? I think not." Giselle rolled her eyes as she said this. Paul turned toward her, raising his eyebrow.

"Why you say that?" He asked, curious of why she seemed so annoyed with him.

"I tried to fuck him, but he didn't want to fuck, so I guess me and you are in the same scenario." Giselle groaned, still upset that Ash had turned her down.

Paul chuckled, closing his eyes. "Ash isn't exactly the type of guy that has sex. I thought you knew that."

Giselle folded her arms together. "Well with his popular persona going around in school, it's kind of really hard to tell."

Paul brought the Bacardi bottle up to his lips and chugged down more of the alcohol.

Giselle stared at him for a short while, soon realizing that they were both in the same situation. A small smirk formed into her lips as she hopped off the counter and walked up towards him. "Since we're both kind of in the same situation, why not we fuck? No strings attached." She smirked.

Paul swallowed the alcohol and pulled the Bacardi bottle away from his lips, looking down at her. "I'm not necessarily available."

"And you're not necessarily in a perfect relationship either, so what's the harm in having a little fun?" She stood in front of him, her eyebrow raised as she rested her hand against his chest.

Paul grabbed her hand from his chest and dropped it back to her side. Paul opened his mouth and said lowly and seductively, "You know what I think you want me to do to you? I think you want me to just let my tongue roll all over your body, along with my hands gripping your breasts while licking your pussy clean."

His face was so close to hers that they were close to kissing. Giselle felt a chill run down her spine. "Then why don't you?" She whispered, looking into his eyes.

Paul licked his lips slowly and smirked. "I'll let Ash handle that. In the meantime, you should stop hoeing around and maybe things with you and him would actually work out." He brought his drink back up to his lips and brushed past her, knowing that he just ticked her off, but he could really care less.

Giselle's mouth dropped open, surprised by what he had said. An annoyed look soon crossed over her face as she turned around to face him. "You're in no position to talk, because last time I checked you tried to fuck Dawn and she turned you down."

Paul chuckled. "The difference between my problem and your problem is that she's been my girlfriend for almost two years already and tonight was actually the first time I've tried to have sex with her. While you only known Ash for like a week and you're already trying to get inside his pants."

"Because I am not fond of getting to know someone before fucking." She rolled her eyes. "Dawn's a virgin, so I honestly don't understand why you're still with her if she's not already fucking you. Seems like a boring relationship to me."

Paul glared at her, placing his Bacardi bottle on the counter. "I don't need to fuck her to be in a relationship with her."

"All relationships eventually get intimate after a while." She told him, walking up to him as she gave him a hard look as well. "And since it's been almost two years already, don't you think that you guys should've done it by now? You say she rejected you tonight, right? Well… it seems to me that you're not the one that she wants to fuck and honestly your relationship with her has been a complete waste of space—"

Paul instantly grabbed her by the neck and slammed Giselle against the nearest wall by the counter, but she glared at him again, breathing hard at the sudden action. "What, you can't handle the truth?" She breathed, struggling to speak.

"And why should I listen to a whore like you?" He said spitefully, leaving his grip around her neck.

"Because I know how shady females can be." She mumbled, finding it hard to function. "Although," she gulped, feeling his grip tighten even harder as she tried to speak. "Don't forget that I'm the one who's helping you with your relationship."

Paul wanted to choke her even more but he soon let his hand free from her neck as she let out a hard heavy sigh of air. Paul watched as she tried to regain her breath, still upset with what she had just said to him. She looked up at him, giving him a hard look too as she closed her lips, now breathing from her nose. Paul's glare hardened on her before he turned away from her and grabbed his Bacardi bottle with him.

Giselle watched as he left elsewhere. "You could've killed me you know!"

"Who cares," he mumbled.

* * *

**A/N: Giselle and Paul's friendship is really crazy as you can see lol.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Ay Vamos by J Balvin.**

**Anyway, any thoughts about what would happen next? I'll put a small sneak peak of the upcoming chapters. (;**

"_**I didn't come here to have small talk."**_

_**Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together. "But you're my boyfriend…"**_

"_**Am I?" Paul asked her.**_

…

"_**I dumped her."**_

"_**Why?"**_

"_**I need time to think."**_

…

"_**What's your problem?" Ash snapped, anger now falling on his face.**_

_**Paul matched his glare with Ash's, looking past Dawn and at Ash. "My problem is you."**_

"_**Paul stop!" Dawn shouted, trying to get Paul to look at her, but he ignored her and kept his attention on Ash.**_

"_**Oh yeah? Then why don't we settle this outside?" Ash suggested, twisting his hat to the back and balling up his fist.**_

"_**I'll be glad to." Paul snarled.**_

…

**I think that's enough sneak peeks :P hopefully you guys can finally have an idea of what would happen next? Let me know! Review!**


	5. Dark Purple

**A/N: I don't really have anything to say, but I'm going to add a symbolism for each color/each chapter from here on.**

_**Dark Purple **_**symbolizes gloom and sad feelings, sometimes it can cause frustration.**

* * *

Giselle watched through the window of the gym doors and saw that raven haired basketball player dribbling and throwing the basketball over and over inside the net. She had to say, he looked pretty attractive all sweaty and he was really good at playing basketball, though she was never really fond of the sport.

The brunette groaned again, remembering where they last fell off.

The nerve of him, rejecting her because he wasn't ready to have sex. Normally a guy that was into sex would've never rejected her especially with something like that. She shook her head and placed her hands on the door holders before opening them and walking inside the empty gym that only had the raven haired basketball player in it.

Her heels clacked along the hard floor as she walked towards him. Ash caught the ball that fell from the net and looked over at her, breathing heavily at the same time. He furrowed his eyebrows a bit, slightly surprised to see her there.

"Having fun there?" She raised her eyebrow, her hair bouncing with each step she took before stopping in front of him.

Ash had his mouth open, now beginning to dribble the ball in place. "I thought you wasn't gonna talk to me anymore?" He narrowed his eyes at the net and aimed for a great angle before shooting the ball as the ball made it neatly inside the net before he quickly caught it.

Giselle shrugged, folding her arms together. "I'm still mad that I got turned down, but I got over it." She saw how sweaty he was and couldn't help but blush lightly.

Ash stopped playing and walked over to her, breathing heavily at the hard work he put during his practicing. Giselle smirked a bit. "I'm sorry," he breathed, holding his basketball at his side. "It wasn't my intention."

Giselle shrugged, taking a good look at him once more, biting her lower lip. "All that sweat on you really makes me… Hot."

Ash stared at her for a bit, laughing lightly. "Thanks I guess…" He scratched the back of his head, not sure of how to behave around her. "Um… Hey, I don't know if you really got the wrong impression of me, but I'm not after you because of sex. I like you a lot, but I just really want to get to know you if that's okay."

She placed her hands inside her pockets before raising her eyebrow. "Why?" She asked, not really understanding.

To be completely honest, she knew he was going to say something like that, but she couldn't quite understand why he is the way he is. He's the freaking captain of the Varsity Basketball team. Shouldn't he have a cocky ass personality along with a sexually active side of him as well? It just didn't add up.

Ash shrugged, "Because getting to know someone's personality is magical… At least to me it is."

Giselle stared at him for a bit and then let out a light laugh. "… I don't do romance."

Ash smiled lightly. "Well not all guys want the same thing," he implied. "If you let me, I can prove it to you."

Giselle just stared into his eyes for a while, listening to what he had just said. Normally, she would've turned down that offer because all she does is mindless sex, no relationships involved. But after listening to what he had just said, maybe he could show her a new perspective of men. She hadn't known, but she was also very curious to find out why he was so… different.

"Okay…" She trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"Great," Ash smiled. "So, you wanna shoot some hoops?"

Her eyes widened instantly. "Um, no. I don't do basketball. As a matter of fact, I am wearing heels and heels and basketball really don't go well together."

"Then take them off,"

Giselle shot him a cold look. "No."

"Aww come on, just one game?" He frowned. "I promise I'll go easy on you." He smiled, really determined to play one game with her.

"Sorry pretty boy, but I am not playing." She turned around as she attempted to leave, but she immediately felt a pair of sweaty arms wrap around her as her eyes widened in disgust.

She did say he was hot all sweaty and shit, but that didn't mean that she wanted any of his sweat on her. "Let go of me!" She shouted, trying to break free from his grip.

Ash laughed as he brought her closer to the basket headboard, holding her still.

Giselle elbowed him hard and immediately the two fell backward as she collided on top of him.

In an instant, Ash looked up at her, noticing that she was on top of him and Giselle noticed too, but she soon realized that she was even more all over his sweat. "Ugh! You are so disgusting! Go take a shower!" She shouted, quickly climbing off of him and wiping her clothes off. Giselle felt so violated right now.

Ash laughed endlessly as he got back up on his feet, quite amused with Giselle's reaction. "And I thought me being sweaty was hot?"

Giselle shot him a cold look. "I take that back."

He shrugged, not really offended with her comment as he began dribbling his basketball again.

Giselle watched as he continued to play ball. She rolled her eyes and flipped her hair to the side. "I would stick around Pretty Boy, but I got places to be."

"Places like what?" He asked her, dunking the ball into the net.

Giselle raised her eyebrow. "Places that doesn't concern you." She winked at him as she began walking away.

Ash laughed at her comment, watching as she was walking away from him. "I'll see you later, Gorgeous."

Giselle blushed as she walked away. There hasn't been one guy that's ever called her gorgeous, beautiful, or anything related to that without trying to get into her pants. And now, that's changed. He had been the first guy to call her that without being in an intimate situation with her.

She honestly had no idea what she was getting into with Ash, but she weirdly wanted to find out what is with him. She originally kept him busy with her looks because he was already infatuated with her and that she agreed to help Paul with his relationship with Dawn. But, she couldn't help but be curious about the raven haired basketball player who is eager to get to know her.

If Dawn is more interested in Ash like Paul says she is, she wanted to find out why and she was going to find out why.

* * *

It had been a couple days and almost two weeks since he last spoken to her. Ever since she told him what she told him the other day, he didn't even want to speak to her because what she had said really hurt him.

Paul looked through all of her texts.

_**Paul, I'm sorry for what I said the other day. Please answer me.**_

...

_**Paul? Why are you doing this?**_

…

_**Paul please answer! I don't want you to be mad at me…**_

…

_**I love you, there's no need to worry.**_

…

_**Our anniversary is coming up pretty soon… I hope you answer me by then.**_

Paul groaned, shoving his phone inside his pocket as he leaned back in his seat. They were about to hit their two year anniversary in just two more weeks. He honestly wasn't even in the mood for it like how he used to be. To him, everything's changed, so if he were to celebrate their upcoming anniversary, he had a feeling it wouldn't be the same.

Paul sighed as he looked out the window beside him. He was currently on one of the city buses, on his way to school. Usually, he hates riding the city buses because there was always crazy people that be on them. He'd always prefer the trains because they were less packed and arrived at your destination pretty quickly.

Paul was going to ride his new car that morning, but he wasn't really in the mood to drive. His mind was so focused on Dawn and what she had said that he decided to ride the damn bus, which he fucking hates.

Their anniversary…

Maybe he would stand her up that day, he hadn't known yet. He was just so angry.

Paul raised the music up from his phone higher so the music can tune away his thoughts. He just hoped it would, at least for now.

"_I know something you don't, that's me coming for you. You want war, we got war, we just wanna warn you."_

"_War for war, bodies that hit the ground. You ready for us? Cuz it's bout to go down. Push 'em to the left, push 'em to the right. Uh! Load the choppers up, hit 'em on sight. Uh! Never turning back. I've done been to hell and back. Me, running out of guns? No, never heard of that. I ain't never ran from a gunfight. This is you and me. Mano y mano, you damn right."_

As soon as the bus stopped at the next destination, Paul got up from his seat and began heading out of the bus.

"_Don't act like you don't know,"_

Paul stepped out of the bus and onto the sidewalk as he began walking toward his school which was only two blocks down.

"_Know what I came for."_

Paul licked his lips and shoved his hands inside his pockets as he concentrated on where he was going.

"_Too late to turn back."_

The wind blew through his hair as he walked past a few stores and people.

"_This is the payback."_

He continued to listen to his music as he walked, trying to distract himself from Dawn.

"_You take one, I take one."_

He honestly wasn't in the mood to come to school today anyway. As a matter of fact, he was never in the mood to come to school. He never liked school in the first place.

"_You can't hide, you can't run."_

Why was he going to school? Oh right because Reggie _told _him to go. Sometimes Paul couldn't stand his brother, especially when he kept telling him to go so that he can stand better in life. But what really was there to do in life?

"_Too late to turn back."_

Paul groaned again as he stopped in front of the school, staring at the doors.

"_This is the payback."_

He rolled his eyes as he walked up the stairs of the school and made his way inside.

There were a few people in the hallways while others were in the Cafeteria having breakfast, or just there to be hanging out with friends.

Paul ignored the people in the hallway as he stopped at his locker and placed his book bag inside, grabbing just a notebook and a pencil. He closed the locker and placed the pencil over his left ear.

He held his phone and notebook on his left hand as he listened to music with his Dr. Dre headphones over his ears.

Paul turned away from his locker as he started walking over to the Cafeteria where most of the students were in. He usually never really ate school food because it just tasted like plastic and raw eggs, it kind of reminded him of the kind of food that they serve in prison.

He stopped in front of the Cafeteria to look at everyone who was inside and quickly spotted a familiar shade of blue hair speaking to a raven haired guy. Paul's eyes immediately hardened when he realized it was Dawn and Ash. They were sitting together at a table, talking, and it looked like Dawn was sad in the face. A face that he's not used to seeing whenever she spoke with Ash unless he had said something to bother her, but he soon saw a smile form on her face, so he assumed Ash must have said something to cheer her up. As soon as he saw her hand slip into Ash's, his heart immediately began to ache and Paul looked away, anger filling over his body.

Why did she slip her hand into his? Paul looked over at the scene again and saw that Ash retreated his hand from hers.

Not really focused on what Ash just did, Paul took a deep breath of air and began walking away from the Cafeteria. No, he wasn't going in there because he felt that if he went in there, he would've done something about what he had just witnessed. Paul wanted to do a lot, but he tried to keep his cool as he walked down the halls.

Maybe Giselle is right, maybe Dawn really does want to give up her virginity to Ash and not him. But what he didn't get is that Ash had the ability to keep her attention while Paul struggled to keep it. He felt it wasn't fair and it wasn't right because _he _is her boyfriend and Ash is _not._ Therefore, why is she giving him more attention than her own boyfriend? It didn't make any sense.

Paul's left fist clenched even tighter as he ripped off a paper from the schools walls and crumbled it up tightly into a ball.

He continued to stroll down the hall, not really caring about the attention he had earned from other people. He continued to walk until he took a brief stop at the place where he and Dawn had first met.

Paul stared at the scene before him, not sure how to react right now.

It was a bench that had been in front of a large painting on the wall that included a blue tree that represented eternity, hope, love, and happiness… or so the legend says. Dawn always used to think of the tree as a symbol of their relationship. She used to say that if that tree stays painted on the schools wall and never changes, their relationship will last for eternity.

And so far, the tree hasn't changed.

_Paul closed his eyes briefly as he let the music flow through his ears, ignoring the sounds of the annoying people around him. It was already his sophomore year and he was already sick of all these people. He just wanted to listen to music in peace and to not be bothered by anyone._

_As if someone had heard his thoughts, he heard a female voice and he quickly became irritated as he lowered down his music and looked up at the girl whom was staring at the painted tree behind him. He stared at her though, not really recognizing this girl, but she had on a Blue Diamond windsuit, so he assumed she must have been new to the school and just joined the marching band dance auxiliary._

_Paul wanted to scream, but he remained calm. He hated the dance team for the marching band like crazy. Every single girl who was a Blue Diamond, which is what they call the dancers, are so damn egotistic and he absolutely hated that. All Blue Diamonds do is gossip and think they're a god damn goddess. Paul felt his fist clench at his sides as he saw this unfamiliar looking Blue Diamond looking at the painting behind him. He wouldn't be surprised if she had the same exact personality as the other Blue Diamonds. It only made sense._

"_This tree is so beautiful." She said, amazed with the tree, taking in each and every detail of it. "The tree of love, hope, happiness, and eternity. This tree is magical." She sighed in awe._

_Paul rolled his eyes, not in the mood to engage into a conversation with her, so he raised his music back up._

_She looked down at him and smiled. "Hi there."_

_She did not…_

_Paul became annoyed quickly, exhaling strong air out from his nose. He looked at her hard, confused that she was even speaking to him._

_Since when does a girl from the dance team even speak to him anyway? All they ever do is talk shit about him and call him a freak._

_The girl took a seat next to him and looked back at the tree again. "I know you may or may not really care, but I think that whomever sits here in front of this painting means that they carry the trees myth."_

_Paul stared at her as she said this, not really understanding why she was so interested in a stupid painting._

_She looked over at him and smiled. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" She said, while he just stared at her and grunted. "Well I'm Dawn, it's nice to meet you…?"_

"_Paul." He answered simply as she smiled after getting a word response out of him._

_Paul stared at her though. She must really had no idea who he was because she was talking to him like he was a regular person. All the other Blue Diamonds always talked to him harsh. But then again, maybe the other Blue Diamonds haven't mentioned him to her yet. He honestly wouldn't be surprised in her change in personality after they tell her about him._

"_Well I'll see you around Paul, sorry that I bored you." She nodded briefly as she got up from the bench and walked away._

_Paul watched as the blue haired girl walked away. He found himself wondering what she had meant by saying whoever sits in front of that tree painting, they hold the trees myth. He blinked, turning around to look at that tree. Did he hold the trees myth?_

_Paul shook his head, she was probably just making that up._

_He watched as she walked away and disappeared somewhere._

_Paul licked his lips and raised his music back up._

_Dawn. She must have been a freshman._

_He tried to focus on listening to his music, but that girl somehow kept finding her way back into his head._

Paul stood in front of that painting as he remembered all their encounters in front of that painting and at this bench.

She had been a freshman at the time and he had been a sophomore, now she is a junior and he is a senior.

Till this day, he was surprised that he even fell for her. He was surprised that he was even capable of falling in love.

He remembered how she kept bothering him, trying to get to know him because she realized he was always to himself and never liked to be around anybody. For some reason, she wanted to be a part of his life, and he still, till this day, doesn't understand why she ever wanted to be a part of his pathetic life.

All of the other Blue Diamonds kept telling her harsh things about him, saying he was a freak, a loser, anything that was harsh. But that didn't stop her from talking to him. That's what he liked about Dawn the most, she didn't care what other people think. She talked to him anyway, despite what the other Blue Diamonds thought about it.

Paul smiled, remembering all those times he kept trying to push her away because he hated the simple fact that she was a Blue Diamond and also because he just hated talking to girls period. Dawn kept fighting him on it, pushing her way in his life and he eventually let her in.

It was rough back then, trying to let her in his life.

Paul began to think about their current problem again and he frowned.

Maybe letting her in his life really was a bad idea.

He sat down on the bench and began thinking again. She was drifting away from him little by little and there was nothing he can do to stop it. He had no idea why she was drifting away or why she was becoming more interested in Ash. Yes, Ash was always in her life before he had came, but she never really shown much affection for the guy until recently. But then again, Paul really had no idea what could be going on through her head, so he had no clue.

After a while, he looked at the crumbled up paper he still had in his hand. He thought he had thrown it somewhere in the hall, but he hadn't.

As soon as he opened it, he realized it was an event that the band was trying to organize. It mentioned the band having a Carnival to help fundraise, and it mentioned all of the band members and what they would be doing in the Carnival. Paul furrowed his eyebrows together as he saw what Dawn would be doing. She would be doing the fortune telling event. He stared at the paper for a little while longer before crumbling up the paper once again.

* * *

Paul sighed as he leaned against his car, looking at the big carnival before him. Many people were entering the carnival with nice carnival-like outfits, and since it was currently taken place at the biggest park in the city, Central Park, he wasn't surprised with the amount of people that decided to attend it.

He continued to watch people walk inside. He honestly didn't want to be here tonight and the fact that Dawn is hosting the Fortune Telling event, he just had to be one of her guests.

He brought his lighter and a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and took one out. Before he even thought about walking in the carnival, he had to smoke, something that always helps him from relieving his stress.

After lighting up his cigarette, he placed the cigarette against his lips as he inhaled a large amount of smoke before exhaling it out into the air.

Paul watched as more people arrived and entered the carnival, soon spotting few fireworks form across the sky.

He stared at the fireworks boom through the sky in all sorts of colors as he continued to smoke in thought.

What Dawn said to him the other night really did bother him, but does she honestly have no idea how much it affects him? He groaned, letting out smoke into the air as his attention soon reverted to a car that was pulling up near the carnival entrance.

Paul furrowed his eyebrows together at the sight and soon saw Gary and Ash exit the car along with Leaf. His right hand balled up into a tight fist as soon as he saw Ash exit from that car. The small group walked toward the entrance and Paul tried his best to listen on the conversation they were just having, despite the fireworks still going along with all sorts of music that was coming from inside the carnival.

"I wish Giselle would've came," Ash mentioned, turning his hat to the back of his head so that the tongue of the hat remained on the back.

"Why didn't she?" Gary asked as he pulled out his carnival tickets.

"She says romance is not her style and going to a carnival with me seems romantic." Ash pulled out his tickets too.

"What girl doesn't like romance?" Gary laughed. "Sounds like she isn't the type of girl for you."

"I'm willing to make her my type." Ash told him, determined with that statement. Ash watched as Leaf leaned her head on Gary's back, hugging him from behind. "I don't know, I feel like there's something about her that she's hiding… and I want to find out what it is."

"Good luck with that," Leaf mentioned, causing Ash to look at her.

"What do you mean?" He asked her, confused with her comment.

Leaf frowned slightly but she quickly reflected it with a smile. "I just… used to know her, that's all. Forget what I said."

She licked her lips before saying something else. "Just, you have to prove to her that you're not a man who uses love for sex, and maybe… I don't know, she might change."

"You knew her?" Ash sounded surprised. Heck, even Paul was surprised himself hearing them.

Paul brought his cigarette back up to his lips. Giselle had to be playing Ash real good, there was no way in hell there could be a back story behind her sexual behavior. At least, that's how he interpreted Leaf's comment.

But what he knew so far, all Giselle wants is to fuck and that's it. Ash is not her type at all, but Paul did enjoy the fact that she was keeping him occupied with her. Though, that still wasn't enough for Paul. Even if Ash wants Giselle and not Dawn, Dawn still had a thing for Ash and that was something he needed to fix.

He stared at the group for a short while before noticing they left off inside the Carnival.

Paul continued to smoke a little more before finally dropping the cigarette on the floor and pressing his foot against it so he put out the fire.

He then proceeded toward the entrance of the Carnival.

It was time to go see Dawn.

* * *

**A/N: I love Carnival's, they're so nice to me!**

**Songs used in this chapter: Payback by Juicy J, Kevin Gates, Future &amp; Sage the Gemini**

**Also, if you guys are wondering why my chapter titles are in colors is because each chapter symbolizes a specific color.**

**If it helps, the first chapter, **_**Red **_**symbolizes energy, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.**

**The second chapter, **_**Dark Green **_**symbolizes ambition, greed, and jealousy.**

**The third chapter, **_**Orange and Dark Orange **_**symbolizes happiness and determination **_**combined with**_** deceit and distrust.**

**The fourth chapter, **_**Dark Orange **_**symbolizes deceit and distrust.**

**And this chapter, well, it is already stated at the beginning ! Hopefully the colors make sense now.**

**So what do you guys think Paul is going to go see Dawn for? Hmm, well review your thoughts!**


	6. Green

**A/N: It's great that I'm getting more viewers, I like this! Hopefully you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am… and to be honest, I haven't even finished it yet. I'm currently working on chapter 11 right now, going into 12, and I'm still struggling to come up with a perfect ending. But anyway, here's the next chapter of My Black Dahlia.**

_**Green **_**symbolizes rebirth and freedom.**

* * *

Many people were all around the Carnival, riding the rides, going to each booth which held small mini games where you win prizes like stuffed animals and booths that led to a ride within the Carnival.

"_Sometimes I get my head in a dilly, feeling so lost, ticking you off. Now boy, you know me well. Said, I'm that kind of feeling, that kind of soft, that kind of silly."_

Carnival music played in the background while Paul walked around the Carnival in search for the Fortune Telling tent. He had to say that the band did organize the Carnival really nice and they had very unique outfits as well such as masks, costumes and anything carnival-like.

Paul grabbed his map and looked over it again. He wasn't that far by because he was right next to the water gun booth, the kissing booth, and also the wheel of fortune.

Paul licked his lips and looked up, looking around.

There was some nice rides set up too. There was two roller coasters, crazy up-side-down rides, gravity rides, free falls, swings, haunted house rides, and even a bunch of kid rides. Paul couldn't point out every single one of them, but he was most definitely surprised that the marching band helped organize this event.

"_Baby, there's a shark in the water. There's something underneath my bed, oh please believe I said."_

His eyes soon fell on a tent with a sign above that read "Fortune Telling" hosted by Dawn Berlitz. As soon as he spotted the tent, he walked past all the people that were currently in line to go in, not caring that he had skipped most of them.

"Hey!" Most people called out. Paul just ignored them and pushed his way through the tents curtains and saw that Dawn had been currently looking at herself in a body mirror.

"_High in the sky, the song that I'm singing, a sweet little lie, I cry wolf, cry."_

He took a good look at her, seeing as she wore a sky blue long skirt that had gold chains hanging from it. That skirt nearly covered her feet along with a crop top that also had gold chains hanging from it and silver flats with a sapphire blue head scarf around her head along with a veil. Her hair had been done in curls as they laid upon her precious skin. As she turned around, surprised that someone had entered her tent, Paul couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked. She was dressed like an Indian or some sort of belly dancer and he had to say she done a great job.

He couldn't see her face much because she had that light see-through white veil around her nose and mouth which had gold chains hanging from it along with the scarf silk thing she had wrapped around the top of her head. The only thing he could really make out were her eyes and how beautiful they looked. Her eyes were done with blue glitter eyeshadow along with liquid eyeliner and mascara. He also spotted the color of her lips behind that see-through veil, it had been a light pink color and her exposing skin filled with some body glitter.

Paul let his eyes travel down toward her belly and saw her belly button ring and the glitter shinning on her skin.

"Paul," she said, surprised to find him here inside her tent.

"Wow," he spoke in an awed whisper, still admiring her beauty.

"_I can't help, I can't help myself… Baby, there's a shark in the water. There's something underneath my bed, oh please believe I said. Baby, there's a shark in the water. I caught them barking at the moon, better be soon."_

Dawn noticed him staring at her really well and she cleared her throat. He looked up at her face and cleared his own throat too, regaining that hard personality he had just before he started admiring the girl before him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him.

"I want to participate in your game." He told her.

Dawn raised her eyebrow. "So you want to play fortune teller?"

"I was thinking more with tarot cards." He suggested, brushing past the girl as her sweet cashmere scent flowed into his nostrils. She smelled way too good for his liking. Who was she trying to impress?

He looked over at her again.

"Well okay." Dawn answered. "You may sit over there at the table."

Paul looked over at the table with blue covering along the matching blue chairs. Even inside the room was tinted in blue, but he wasn't surprised because blue is her favorite color. Though she did have the place looking really nice, it was like they were inside a genie bottle.

Paul took a seat and watched as she took a seat in front of him, a deck of cards sitting on the table.

"_Right is right, rules are rules. This is more like April Fool's.."_

Dawn stared at him for a while before speaking. "I'm sorry for what happened the other day."

Paul looked at her and then looked down at the cards, remembering that he came here to find out the truth. "I didn't come here to have small talk."

Dawn's eyebrows furrowed together. "But you're my boyfriend…"

"Am I?" Paul asked her.

"_Baby, there's a shark in the water. There's something underneath my bed, oh please believe I said."_

Dawn blinked, surprised with that question.

Paul just shook his head. "Forget it, let's just start the game already."

Dawn licked her bottom lip and frowned slightly.

Paul was just really mad and obviously still hurt, but he could honestly care less if he had hurt her feelings just now.

Dawn grabbed the deck of cards and began to shuffle them, an awkward silence forming between, despite the music that was playing in the background.

Paul watched as she shuffled them before she began to spread the cards out directly in front of him.

"_Baby, there's a shark in the water. I caught them barking at the moon, you better get here soon."_

"Have you thought of a question?" She said after breaking that awkward silence between them.

"I have two." He said bluntly.

"You do know that you have to ask one right?"

"We can start over again." Paul stated, looking up at her.

Dawn stared at him for a short while as he stared back at her. "Well… what is your question?"

Paul tore his eyes off of her and looked at the cards. "Where does my relationship stand?"

"_I caught them barking at the moon, better be soon."_

Just when the song ended, Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but was soon surprised with the question he had asked. She blinked over several times before grabbing a card and turning it over. Her heart began to race a little because she hadn't expected him to ask a question like that. "Um…"

"The first card represents the past." They looked at the first card which showed a picture of the sun. "The Sun," Dawn said, looking really good at the picture. "Meaning lovely things, happiness and perfection."

Paul listened carefully, that same hard look on his face remaining there.

Another song began playing moments after.

"The present," Dawn said, grabbing another card. She turned over the second card and saw a picture of two people beside each other with an angel in between them. "The Lovers," Dawn looked up at Paul slowly. "Meaning they're in love."

Paul licked his bottom lip as he waited for her to turn over the last card.

"The future…" She trailed off, grabbing another card and staring at the last card for a short moment before turning the card over.

It showed a picture of a knight that had been killed across the floor with a horse over his body and a skeleton knight sitting on the horse. The picture's caption read 'death'.

"_Just like the white winged dove sings a song sounds like she's singing. Whoo, whoo, whoo."_

When Dawn saw that word, she slowly looked up at Paul, her mouth slightly dropped and her heart now beating faster. She wasn't the type to believe in tarot cards, but the simple fact that those cards she picked out determined the future of her relationship with Paul with something really bad, she wasn't sure how to react.

It remained quiet for a short while, though music had been playing, Paul kept his eyes on that last card for a little while longer before letting out a hard sigh. "Next question." He ordered.

"_And the days go by. Like a strand in the wind, in the web that is my own. I begin again,"_

Dawn blinked again, still surprised with that last cards result. She quickly grabbed the three cards along with all the others and stacked them back into a deck before shuffling them. Paul watched as she shuffled them again, his mind still focused on that last cards prediction. Death. That only meant the worst thing ever.

"What's your next question…?" Dawn trailed off, her mind still focused on that death card too.

"Is my girlfriend in love with someone else?" He said plainly, staring down at the cards.

Dawn's mind was completely taken aback as she heard what his next question was. "… Why are you asking me this?" She lowered her voice.

Paul looked at her with a plain look. "I want the truth."

"_He was no moreeeee than a baby then."_

She blinked again and started to become upset as she dropped the cards she had in her hands onto the table, the cards that were once stacked together now splitting apart along the table. "Our relationship isn't based on some card game."

"If it isn't, then how come you look so scared with the first question's results?" He asked her, his eyebrows raised.

Dawn got up from her seat, becoming really upset, but Paul could really care less about that.

"How low can you be? You're using fortune telling to determine our relationship. Who in the world does that?" She raised her voice. "I get that you're upset about the other night, but that doesn't give you the right to use me with fortune telling so you can find out where our relationship is gonna go. And where in the hell did you get that I have feelings for someone else!?"

"Don't be stupid," he grumbled, looking at her.

"Why don't you trust me?" She argued.

"Because you don't trust me." He answered, now getting up on his feet. "All your attention always fucking goes to Ash."

Dawn made a face. _"What!?" _She started to become more furious. "Are you serious!? You think I have feelings for Ash?"

Paul chuckled lightly, "Well there's no need to make up some kind of pathetic excuse as to why you don't."

"I don't!" She argued, but Paul still believed otherwise. "I love you Paul, why don't you get that?"

"Because you said you don't trust me!" He shouted, his fist clenching at his side. "If you love me like you say you do, you would trust me, but you don't. Sorry if it seemed like I used your precious little game for answers, but now I know exactly where we stand. We're through," Paul brushed past her and stormed his way toward where he had entered the tent in the first place.

He pushed the tent curtains that were blocking his way roughly and left.

"Paul!" Dawn yelled after him, watching as he left.

"_Just like the white winged dove sings a song sounds like she's singin'. Whoo, baby, whoo, said whoo."_

Tears had begun to blur in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back as she looked down at the tarot cards on that table.

She became so frustrated that she sent the cards flying towards the ground in anger. The tears she had been holding back began flowing down her face as she struggled to calm herself down.

The simple fact that Paul was behaving this way really made her heart hurt. Her and Paul used to be so happy, but now it became so dreadful and she didn't understand why. Where was all this anger coming from? Why had he become so accusing lately? And most of all, why does he keep doubting her?

Dawn frowned as she sat back down next to the table.

"_Just like the white winged dove sings a song sounds like she's singin'. Said whoo, baby, whoo, said whoo."_

"Next!" She raised her voice, waiting for her next guest to enter. She didn't bother picking up the tarot cards she had on the floor since she was so stressed out, so she just left them there.

Luckily, the next person that walked in wouldn't be able to tell if she was crying since she did have a veil over her face.

* * *

Death. That's what that last card said and Paul had no idea what their relationship would end up like. Yeah, he basically dumped her, but his life is still connected to hers no matter where he goes.

Paul sat in front of a bar while a lot of people inside the club danced and got wasted. Girls were halfway naked and dancing against a bunch of guys, but Paul only came here for a drink and he was really stressed out at the moment.

Some really old music had been playing in the club, and Paul instantly recognized it. It was a song called Candy Rain by Soul For Real. Paul loved old school music, those were one of his favorites.

Paul listened to the music as he chugged down a shot of Hennessy.

"_Myyyy love, do you ever dreeeeam of candy coated raiiiiindrops? You're the same, my candy rain."_

He had a lot on his mind; he had no idea what their relationship was like right now. Those tarot cards basically gave him answers he didn't even want, but he had no idea if those cards are even real at all. He wasn't the type to believe in magic, but he still didn't have an idea if magic even really exists.

Paul shook his head, taking in everything at once. He knew he broke up with her, but he really needed some space and time to think. The simple thought of her was driving him crazy, so he quickly pushed her to the back of his thoughts.

Music played loudly through the club, lots of blue colors highlighting the club and the people inside.

Paul chugged down another shot of alcohol as he listened to the music, closing his eyes.

"_Have you ever loved someone so much you thought you'd die? Giving so much of yourself, it seems the only way."_

"Can I get another shot of henny?" He asked the bartender in front of him.

"Yeah," the bartender grabbed his already empty shot glasses and hooked him up another shot of henny. The bartender handed it to him.

"Thanks man," Paul grabbed the shot glass in his hand as he handed the bartender the money. As he brought the shot glass up to his lips, a familiar voice surprised him.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Paul."

Paul looked over at the voice that was beside him and saw that it was Giselle. She had on a short tight denim crop top along with leather shorts, fishnet leggings, and combat boots. Her brown wavy and bouncy big curls flowed down to her shoulders as usual. But Paul took a sip of his alcohol, not really caring about how she looked at the moment.

"What do you want?" He grumbled, pulling the shot away from his lips as he placed the drink on the bar counter.

"Just wondering why you're here. I thought you'd be at that Carnival." Giselle leaned her back and her elbows against the counter, she looked at him, noticing that he looked really stressed out in the face.

"I was," he looked around the club again at all the people before looking at her. "What about you? How come you're not with Ash?"

Giselle laughed lightly. "I don't do romance."

"Oh yeah," Paul rolled his eyes. "You're a whore, I forgot." He brought the drink back up to his lips.

Giselle's face fell flat as she heard him say that. "You're a dick, you know that?"

Paul shrugged, not really caring about what she had to say.

"Ash seems like the kind of guy that is into romance, like taking girls out to romantic places and stuff like that. I don't want any of that with him."

"So you honestly think you actually have a shot at fucking him occasionally?" Paul raised his eyebrow, chuckling lightly.

"Yeah, I just need to figure out a way to change his mind about the whole romance thing." Giselle licked her bottom lip as she looked at him. "Enough about me. What's going on with you and Miss Blue Diamond?"

"I dumped her." Paul stated bluntly, his eyes hard on the counter as he said this.

Giselle raised her eyebrow. "Why?"

"I need time to think." He mumbled, listening to the music that was playing.

"_All I want, all I need, now I know. I know I found it in you, I found it in you."_

She stared at him for a short while before biting down on her bottom lip. "Well you want to do something that will take your mind off of it?"

Paul turned his head to her and opened his mouth to speak. "Like what?"

"I know you're attracted to me Paul." She smiled seductively as she said this. "And now since you're officially single now, you can do whatever you want."

Of course. Paul sucked his teeth before looking at her hardly. "I don't know how else I can get this through your fucking head, but there is never going to be an _us. _You got that?"

Giselle's face soon fallen flat a bit as she listened to his next words. "You know what I don't do? I don't do sex with girls who aren't capable of romance. At least, not anymore. You should be disgusted with yourself, going around fucking every guy you see. You wanna know why guys treat you like you're a whore? Because you express yourself as one." Paul chuckled lightly as he licked his lips before continuing on with what he had to say. "I admit, I want to grab you, take you somewhere private and throw you across a table so I could fuck the shit out of you, but that's only because you express yourself to me as a whore, so of course I would treat you like one."

Giselle matched her glare with his. "Is that supposed to hurt me? Because honestly I don't feel it. And if you want to disrespect my body so much, then why don't you take me somewhere private and do it?"

"Because it's much more fun talking about what I would do to you than actually doing it." He told her. "If you haven't noticed, we don't always get what we want." Paul smirked as he said this, taking a moment to take a sip of his Hennessy and then placing the glass back down on the counter. He licked his lips once more and turned his head to the right, looking at the people inside the club.

Giselle stared hard at the back of his head and became extremely upset.

While he wasn't looking, she quickly dug into her purse and grabbed a few pills before dumping them inside of his drink. The pills began to dissolve into the alcohol until it finally disappeared, as if nothing had been dropped into his drink.

As soon as Paul turned around to look back at her, Giselle instantly dropped her arm back to her side and still had that angry look on her face. Seeing how upset she looked, Paul smirked, "Oh I'm sorry, did I upset you?"

"Suck a dick." She growled.

"Would you like to suck mine?" He raised his eyebrow, smirking. "I'm sure you give good head."

Giselle gave him a cold look before leaving into the crowd of people and finding a random man to dance with.

Paul watched as she started dancing with a random guy, noticing that she was beginning to have her body pressed tightly against him as she began grinding against that guy. He shook his head as he grabbed his shot glass and chugged down the rest of the henny that was inside the glass, not knowing that his drink had been spiked by her.

Giselle was looking at him as he drank the rest of his alcohol, smiling deviously. It would start to work its magic on him in just a few moments.

She closed her eyes as she felt the guy she was dancing with place his hands against her breasts. She moaned at the contact, continuing to grind against him, lacing her arm around his neck.

"_Myyyyy love, do you ever dreeeeam of candy coated raaaaaaindrops? You're the same, my candy rain."_

Paul dropped his glass down on the counter as his head began to hurt, his vision slowly turning into a blur. He looked over at Giselle and saw her and that man dancing, but he barely got a good picture of them since they looked so blurry. Paul felt his head spinning out of nowhere, and he was beginning to wonder if something had been in his last drink.

He tried to function, but he could barely register everything that was happening around him. Giselle saw as Paul was beginning to react to the pills she put inside his drink, a huge grin sliding on her face.

That's what you get, bitch.

Paul looked down at the counter, placing his head down into his palms. "What the fuck…" he mumbled, his head pounding, his vision getting worse, and his hearing getting pretty bad.

It wasn't until a moment later that he passed out, luckily on the counter with his head down.

* * *

**A/N: I tried my best on the tarot card game. I looked up so much information on that and I did the best I could. **

**I like the fact that Giselle spiked Paul's drink because he pissed her off lmaooo.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Shark in the Water by VV Brown, Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks, Candy Rain by Soul For Real.**

**I swear, the fact that this story takes place in a city, Veilstone City, makes me think of only New York City lol so if anyone is wondering why I'm mentioning similar things like Central Park is because I'm picturing Veilstone City as New York City. Don't blame me lmao. It helps me anyway because I do love NY.**

**Anyway, how do you guys feel about the tarot card's results? Do you think it could be true? Review!**


	7. Red Brown

**A/N: My teeth is killing me omfg.**

_**Red Brown **_**symbolizes anxious feelings, distracted thinking, anger, and annoyance.**

* * *

Paul awoke the next morning in a bed that he hadn't seem very familiar with. His body and his head was pounding pretty badly and he wanted to know where he was exactly because he started to take a look around the room, realizing that he had not been in his house. What the hell happened last night? And why was he in bed without a shirt on? And no pants but his underwear?

The door of the room soon flew open as he saw Giselle enter inside the room with a light golden silk dress. His fists immediately clenched at his side.

"Finally you woke up." She crossed her arms, closing the door behind her.

"What the fuck?" He blurted out. "What did you do to me?"

Giselle rolled her eyes as she walked over to him. "I didn't rape you if that's what you're thinking."

"Why the fuck am I here?" He got up immediately from the bed, his head still pounding as he placed his hand against his head before hissing. "Did you spike my drink?" He growled.

"I only spiked your drink because you pissed me off." She said with annoyance.

"You fucking bitch." He grumbled, hissing again in pain as his head began to hurt even more.

Giselle shrugged, watching as he grabbed his clothes that were laying across a dresser near her bed.

"I didn't fuck you, if that's what you're thinking." She said.

Paul began to put on his clothes, still angry at her. "Why didn't you? You had the perfect chance." He shook his head as he continued to put on his clothes.

"I would enjoy it more if you were willing to fuck me too." She shrugged, watching as he continued to put his clothes on. "Who knows, maybe one day you would want to."

Paul groaned. "How did you get me here?"

"Easy. While you were passed out, I grabbed your car keys from your pocket and seduced some guy so he could take you home."

Paul stopped for a second to look at her. "Where's my car?" He asked, sounding upset.

"Relax, it's in front of my building." Giselle pointed toward his keys which was on the dresser beside the bed.

After putting on his clothes, he quickly grabbed his car keys and shot her one last glare. "Do me a favor. Stay the fuck away from me. You did what you had to do, and now I don't need you in my life anymore. I can handle the rest of my problems on my own from now on."

"Geez. That's how you say thank you?" Giselle was now becoming a bit upset.

"After what you did, I think you can go to hell."

Paul pushed passed her and walked out of her room, but was quickly caught off guard when he saw that same man from last night dancing with Giselle. "Hi," the man said. Paul's eyebrows immediately furrowed together in disgust as he took a good look at this man. He was shirtless and in just his underwear too. The only difference is that he had no abs and his chest was all hairy and nasty looking. Paul immediately looked over at Giselle, a disgusted look on his face. "Seriously? He could be your father."

"He's only 27 years old. I'm 17 to be exact." She told him.

"You are disgusting," Paul took one last look at that man before brushing past him and finding his way out of her house.

Paul had no idea what Ash was getting into with a woman like Giselle. For the first time in his life, he actually wanted Ash to find someone better than her, but that doesn't mean Dawn. Dawn is off limits.

* * *

It had been a whole month since he last spoke to Dawn. He couldn't believe it himself, but he was surprised that he had gone a whole month without speaking to her. Though she had hurt him pretty badly, he couldn't help but continue checking up on her just to see if she was okay.

Paul placed his cigarette against his lips as he inhaled smoke before exhaling it out into the air as he stood outside, watching as Dawn was sitting at a table inside the Starbucks coffee shop. She was sipping on a frappe and looking down at the table in thought.

Drew and May spoke to him about her, saying that she was devastated and everything, but he always gave them the same response, "She's in love with someone else." He was right though, she is in love with someone else and that was Ash. No matter what Paul could do, he would never be as perfect as Ash. At least that's how Dawn looked at Ash compared to him.

Meanwhile Ash was too busy focused on Giselle to even see that Dawn is in love with him.

Starbucks was always her favorite place to go to, especially with Paul. He frowned when he realized that she was sitting alone at their table.

Pulling the cigarette away from his lips once more, he turned away from the shop and walked off.

* * *

"Dawn!" A voice yelled.

Dawn looked up and stopped in her tracks as she turned around briefly only to see Ash running up to her and quickly catching his hat from falling off his head.

The wind blew briefly at Dawn's hair. She was currently outside in the city, walking on the sidewalk and past a few stores, up until Ash caught up to her.

"Hey Ash," she said, a bit surprised to see him there.

"Hey, um, are you busy today? I really need your advice on something." He sighed breathlessly while holding his basketball in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm going to the school to go practice dancing later. I have a huge audition coming up pretty soon and I have to prepare for it." She told him, adjusting her bag to her shoulder.

"I thought you was ready for that?" Ash raised his eyebrow.

Dawn shrugged. "Not even close," she sighed, slightly thinking about Paul. Paul usually helped her when it came to dancing, but without him helping her, she wasn't sure of what to do. "So, what do you need my advice on?"

"Oh," Ash shook his head, "It's nothing," he lied. "You need help in dancing? I can help you if you want."

Dawn stared at him and raised an eyebrow. "_You _help _me _in dancing?" She put an emphasis on her statement as if to insult him.

"Yeah," Ash nodded, looking at her with a serious look now.

"Ash, you can't dance. You suck terribly at it." Dawn made a face as she said this, laughing lightly afterwards.

Ash put his hand up to his heart and let his jaw dropped. "I do not!" He said, as if to be offended by her comment, but really he wasn't. "I can dance, Dawn."

"Oh really? Every time I see you dance, you always make a fool out of yourself." Dawn told him, attempting to get him to remember the last times he had danced.

"That's because we were at house parties, I like having fun." Ash scoffed, now hearing music playing from someone's radio who was across the street. He turned his head to look at the scene and heard a familiar song playing on that radio.

The song Every Little Step by Bobby Brown had been playing and Ash turned his head to look at Dawn, giving her a look that only meant one thing. Dawn stared at him, soon realizing what that look meant.

"Ash, no." She said, her eyes widening.

Ash handed her his basketball and quickly got onto the road.

Dawn's eyes widened. "Ash!" She yelled, worried about any cars that may come by.

It wasn't until a second later that Ash began dancing.

"_I can't sleep at night, I toss and turn, listenin' for the telephone. But when I get your call, I'm all choked up. Can't believe you called my home."_

Dawn watched as he was moving in place, making a fool out of himself. He was basically doing a jack swing kind of dance, sort of like he was freestyling and she couldn't help but laugh at the way he was dancing. He most certainly wanted to prove to her that he can dance and he is not bad at it.

Ash just wanted to prove to her that he can dance, but of course his own specialty would be the jack swing dancing. Gary and him always dance that way every time they're at house parties or just regular parties. Dawn always thought he was terrible at his dancing, but she never really took the chance to actually pay attention to what exactly he is doing.

Ash pulled the tongue of his hat down a bit so it can cover his eyes as he continued to move with the beat, his foot tapping the ground on repeat.

"_Because a girl like you is a dream come true. A real life fantasy. No matter what your friends try to tell ya, we were made to fall in lovee."_

Dawn folded her arms together as she let her eyes fall down toward the movement on his feet. He looked so hilariously ridiculous, but it also looked really well. She stared at his feet movement, seeing as his feet tapped the ground continuously and she was taken aback when she saw as he did a halfway split. She giggled lightly though when she realized he couldn't do a complete split, but the halfway split with just one leg didn't look bad either.

She then let her eyes trail off around her surroundings, hearing as people gasped at his movements. She listened as people said things about him.

"Wow, he's great!"

"Where did he get those moves from?"

"Finally someone brings back old school dancing."

"_Every little step I take, you will be there." _Ash mouthed the song as he now jumped onto a table beside him, startling people and causing many people to look his way. Dawn noticed that he also gained some attention by a few girls around his age that seemed very interested in him.

"Who is he?" One girl asked, not letting her eyes fall from Ash.

"Oh, he is so fine…" Another girl said.

"He can dance, I need a man like him!"

"Are you kidding? You don't know who he is? He's the varsity basketball captain of Veilstone High!"

Dawn returned her attention onto Ash. She can tell that he didn't really care about having an audience cheer him on while he danced. Whenever she danced by herself, she never really felt comfortable having an audience to watch her dance because she was so shy. The only person she really let watch her dance alone was Paul, only because she trusted him with everything, including that part of her life. But when she dances with the other Blue Diamonds, she can handle any and every audience to watch only because she wasn't alone dancing.

"_Every little step I make, we'll be together." _Ash continued to dance while lip syncing the song. He pulled the tongue of his hat down a little lower to his face as he now jumped off the table and did a brief front flip in the air and landed onto the sidewalk.

Dawn gasped, not expecting something like that.

"_Every little step I take, you will be there. Every little step I make, we'll be together."_

Once Ash landed, he regained his breath and straightened his body, turning his hat to the back as he let out heavy breaths and stopped dancing. The audience he gained clapped their hands and screamed like crazy, a few girls running up to him like a bunch of fan girls.

Dawn laughed, seeing as Ash gained so many girl's attention. She really admired Ash, especially now. The fact that he even had that much confidence to dance in a random place and to dance in front of many people really inspired her. "Thank you, thank you." His ego began to grow a bit as he looked at the girls all over him.

"Can I have your number?"

"You are such a great dancer, oh my god!"

"Can I get an autograph on my boobs?"

Ash's eyes widened slightly at the fan that asked for an autograph on her boobs.

Dawn giggled as she pushed past the crowd of fan girls. She shoved her hand between the girls and grabbed a hold of Ash's hand and pulled him out of that crowd.

She began running off with him while laughing hard after what she had just heard from one of his fans.

A few girls grew upset, saying things like "Who the hell is that girl?" , "Why is she running off with my man?"

Your man? Dawn laughed hard as she heard that, continuing to run with him and never stopping.

Though Dawn knew Paul wouldn't like it if she had Ash be her dance partner, but she desperately needed one and he was the only option. Paul just needed to understand that.

* * *

The hall was dim and music played loudly outside of the dance room. Paul shoved his hands inside his pockets and walked down this hall, the music beginning to increase louder and louder with each step he took as he approached the dance room.

"_Can you see it? … The worst is over… The monsters in my head are scared of love."_

"_Fallen people… listen up! It's never too late to change our luck."_

Paul licked his lips and finally stopped in front of the dance room. His eyes hardened on the sight before him.

Dawn and Ash were facing each other, both of their arms to their sides.

"_So don't let them steal your light."_

As soon as the next beat of the song hit, they both quickly grabbed each other's hands and did a dance before Ash turned her around briefly so that she kicked her legs in the air before he turned her back around to face him.

Ash was focused on helping her out mostly, while Dawn was focused holding onto Ash's hands so he won't drop her. The two practiced that same dance over and over, but this time it just had to be perfect and Dawn was determined for that to happen.

"_Don't let them break your stride."_

The two spread out, making sure to leave a small gap between them. Ash brought her back to him slowly, their hands still attached together. It wasn't until a moment later, Dawn latched her right arm around his neck as Ash twisted her around so that she can lean her head far back, Ash was careful not to drop her.

After practicing that same routine over and over, Ash was starting to get the hang of the dance and so it was easier and quicker for him to do the dance she wanted.

"_Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh."_

Paul's face was flat on serious as he saw this, really furious about the simple fact that he was even helping her with dancing in the first place.

"_There is light on the other side."_

He watched as they started running slightly around each other before grabbing each other's hands again.

He didn't like this one bit. Why the hell was he dancing with her!?

"_And you'll see all the raindrops falling behind."_

Paul's fists clenched at his sides, he didn't want to see anymore.

"_It's a revolution. Make it out tonight. It's a revolution."_

Immediately, Paul slammed the doors open and barged his way inside the dance room, quickly startling Dawn and Ash as he caused them to stop their dancing.

"Get away from her!" Paul growled, walking up to Ash, but Dawn immediately got in between the two, Ash being behind her and Paul being in front of her.

"What's your problem?" Ash snapped, anger now falling on his face.

Paul matched his glare with Ash's, looking past Dawn and at Ash. "My problem is_ you._"

"Paul stop!" Dawn shouted, trying to get Paul to look at her, but he ignored her and kept his attention on Ash.

"Oh yeah? Then why don't we settle this outside?" Ash suggested, his hat twisted to his back and his fist balled up.

"I'll be glad to." Paul snarled.

Dawn shouted amongst their voices. "No!" The two looked at her. "Nobody is fighting! I am sooo sick of this!" She pushed the both of them hard in their chests and took a step away from them so she can turn to face them.

Paul looked at her and so did Ash. She took a large breath of air and looked at the both of them like they were crazy. "I am so tired of this," she breathed, looking over at Paul. "Ash and I are _nothing, _don't you get that? I'm crazy in love with _you, _not him." Dawn let out another breath of air so that she could breathe. She was so tired from dancing that it made it complicated for her to breathe.

Paul blinked, listening to those words while Dawn shook her head and looked over at Ash. "Ash, we'll practice some other time. I need to speak with Paul privately, if that's okay with you…"

Ash fixed his hat on his head and nodded. "Yeah, it's fine." He went to go get his jacket and soon brushed past the both of them, hitting Paul's shoulder with his own purposely before leaving the dance room.

Paul was about to go after Ash, but Dawn stopped him from doing so. "Let it go." She snapped.

Paul's fist was still clenched tightly, but he slowly turned his head to face her, trying to calm himself down.

"Can you do me a favor and get the hell over yourself?" Dawn breathed in anger.

Paul stared at her as he tried to tame himself down, his fist slowly unclenching from his side. Dawn continued, "Ash is my best guy friend and if you got a problem with that then you can get the hell out of my dance room."

Paul's eyes soon hardened again. "Really, you're gonna choose his side over mine?"

"No. You just need to stop assuming that I'm entertaining someone else." She argued.

"Then why was he here with you in the first place?" Paul snapped, believing otherwise.

"He was helping me dance!" She shouted. "I have a very big audition coming up in two weeks and all he was doing was helping me with my big audition." Paul's face began to change when he realized she hadn't been lying. "Of course, you would've known that if you never walked out on me." Dawn turned her back to him and walked over to her radio that was on top of a table. She pressed a button to turn off the current song that was playing.

Paul sighed, not knowing what to say now. It did make sense for why Ash was there, but then again that still didn't change the fact that she shows obvious feelings for him. No matter what she says, her actions tells the obvious truth.

"Now, are you going to cut the shit and help me out with my audition? Or are you going to waste my time here?" She asked, looking at him.

Paul stared at her for the longest moment possible while she waited for an answer. Paul shoved his hands in his pockets and opened his mouth to speak. "Do you remember the steps?"

Dawn opened her mouth, but no words seem to come out as soon as she realized what he had been implying.

Paul smirked. He taught her a zouk dance a long time ago at his place and they had been practicing it a lot, but it's been a while since he last did that dance with her.

Paul hated dancing with a passion, but he was very big on winning and never losing. That's one thing he didn't want for Dawn, he didn't want her to lose. So really, he only started dancing just to help her out, because that's how much he cares about her.

After staring at Paul for what seemed like forever, she licked her lips. "I'm learning a new dance. To that song that was just playing. We're doing that one," she demanded.

"Why not do the old one? That's the only one I'm familiar with." He shot back.

"Because you're not my partner, he is." She shot back. Those words hit him hard, but he kept a straight face on her as well as she. "You made that decision when you broke up with me at the carnival."

"Come on," Paul rolled his eyes, "That dance, we practiced that dance for months and you said yourself you want that dance to go to that audition. Why are you risking a new dance that might not even be perfected by then?"

"Because you're too busy worrying about other things than my audition!" She shouted. "What am I supposed to do? You've been getting pissed at me for days already and I'm tired of it! So of course, I'm going to try out a new dance and find myself a new dance partner because I don't exactly have a choice!"

Paul stared at her for a short moment as she now regained her breath.

"Well, now you do." He told her.

Dawn hardened her eyes on him.

"Ash is a lousy partner. And besides, you and I both know that _our _dance is way better than what you two were doing."

Dawn wanted to argue on that, but she didn't know what to say, so she just remained silent.

Paul smirked again, knowing that she knew he was right. What Ash didn't have was the dance moves or that same dance routine. That kind of dance will never compare to _their _dance.

After staring at Paul for what seemed like forever, she licked her bottom lip and pressed a button on the radio as that song began playing.

Paul watched Dawn as the song began playing; she turned to look at him. "I suggest you get into place." She demanded.

Paul kept his hard eyes on her as he walked on the far side of the room before she walked to the other far side of the room.

They both turned around as they stared at each other from the opposite sides of the room.

Dawn let out a breath of air before walking towards him. Paul walked towards her as well before they stopped in front of one another. Their bodies hit and they were dangerously close to one another. He had his hand holding hers and before he can hold it any longer, Dawn pulled her hand away as soon as the beat began to hit.

"_I love when you pulling up in your jeep, bumping all your beats. J's on with your shades on, just to bring me something to eat. You the man up in these streets."_

Dawn placed her hand against Paul's chest, pushing him back. Paul grabbed her from each side of her face. She was still so upset about the fact that Paul was upset about her and Ash, but she strongly felt that he should get over it. After all, they are just friends and that's all it will be.

Dawn turned her attention back onto the dance, making sure to not worry about anything but the perfection of the dancing. She briefly relaxed a bit in his arms as he whirled her around and brought her back closer to him. She closed her eyes as he continued handling her with his hands.

"_Baby hop in my ride, oooh it's hot as hell outside."_

When she felt his hands release from her body, Dawn let out a small breath of air and opened her eyes as she now began to do a strong dance as she hit every beat with her body along with him following behind, mimicking the same moves as her.

Dawn was still surprised that he even remembered the dance moves. It had been such a long time since they last practiced that dance and the fact that he even remembered the dance and its moves really made her heart lighten up a bit, though she was still a bit upset with him.

Her body tensed slightly and she gasped as he grabbed her from her waist and twirled her around as the song began to progress.

"_Drive slowwwwwww, take your time."_

Paul was doing everything perfectly. No doubt that he was a much better dance partner than Ash.

Dawn felt safe in Paul's arms. The way he was dancing with her, the way he was holding her and balancing her. It all felt like he was making love to her, but he wasn't. They were just dancing. Only just dancing. But the feel of his hands on her body, carefully moving her with the music in sync, it felt magical.

Dawn let her eyes fall on his and she couldn't help but stare at them as she continued to dance with him, hitting every beat.

He was perfect. His eyes, black and strong as the onyx stone; they were deep and irresistible. Dawn couldn't resist, she was head over heels for Paul, and by the way he was looking at her, she could tell that he must love her deeply, though he never exactly told her that he loved her.

The tension they built together while dancing was so intense and so sensual, but they didn't care, they did whatever flowed with the song, and whatever felt right.

"_Every little thing that you do got me feeling some type of way. When you give me that thunder, you make my summer rain. Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh. Everyday everyday…"_

Paul was more focused on her than himself. The way she looked at him during the dance really made him wonder if she might actually really care about him like the way he cared about her. He stared at her though, continuing to hold her and dance with her, careful to not drop her. She was like a feather in his arms and he just loved it.

"_And it won't stop. Boom boom."_

Paul felt her beginning to become rough as he felt her fists on his chest, pushing him back roughly while going along with the beat until his back hit against a wall.

Their dance was so strong that he believed that anyone can read their story with just this dance. It explained everything. From their flaws, to perfections, to grief, pain, happiness, everything about them.

Paul listened to her short breaths while he let out some on his own. He licked his lips when he felt her hot breath near his lips and he instantly twirled her around again.

"_Boooooooom."_

No doubt, Paul loved this. He didn't even have to make love to her, he can just dance with her and that would prove how much he felt about her. Paul was hoping that Dawn could see how much he loved her, especially with such a strong and meaningful dance.

"_With every single part of me, my love for you is constantly forever and ever on repeat, on repeat and it won't stop. Boom boom booooooom."_

She couldn't describe the way she was dancing, she was just going with the flow, doing whatever felt right with Paul. She trusted Paul with all her heart and she felt really comfortable doing a dance like this with him.

The warmth between them grew more powerful by the second. Her heartbeat was growing steadily along with it.

"_Rocking your body, rocking your body to sleep."_

Paul pushed her down to the floor on her back as he let the bottom part of his body dive down in between in her legs. Dawn let out a heavy breath at the action, looking up at him.

Their dance was so perfect; everything from their breathing to how their feet moved stayed in sync. If, by the end of this dance her breath is taken away, she would know the exact reason why.

Paul grabbed her left leg which was on his left side of his waist and brought it around the other side of his waist and lifted her completely up against up. She had her back facing him and Paul had his lips touching the side of her left shoulder.

"_And it won't stop, boom boom."_

Every moment, every angle seemed to be planned in advance. Nothing felt forced at all. Dawn felt like she was floating.

Paul held his hands over her hands against her chest. And with the beat, they mimicked a heartbeat while popping.

They became one with the song, with the dance and with each other.

"_Boooooom."_

They continued like that until they had to separate, though Dawn was sad to be away from his warmth as she listened to the song coming to a complete end.

It became quiet, the only sounds in the room being their heavy breaths.

Dawn turned to look at Paul and Paul turned to look at her.

Dawn couldn't help herself. That dance just really clicked something into her mind, something she should've done a long time ago.

She began walking up to Paul and Paul was surprised when he felt her lips crashing onto his, catching him off guard. Paul would've pulled away, but then again he couldn't resist a special moment like this.

What surprised him though was that she began to kiss him harder. Paul couldn't help himself though; he allowed the kiss to become more intense as he immediately pushed her body close to the wide mirror within the dance room, Dawn's back pressing against the mirror as she breathed lightly against his lips.

Paul soon removed his lips from hers as he moved his lips down to her neck, bringing her left leg up and wrapping it around his waist. Dawn moaned quietly as she dug her hands inside his jean black jacket and let it fall off his shoulders.

Paul continued to kiss her neck before he moved his face down in between her breasts that were currently covered with her white tank top. He kissed the flesh of her revealing cleavage though. Dawn continued to breathe heavily as her hands moved down to his belt. Paul let her leg drop from his waist as he soon brought his face back up to hers.

Paul stared at her for a short while and then he looked down at his pants and saw she had been unbuckling his belt.

Dawn looked at him when she saw he was looking at her, continuing to undo his belt before pulling the zipper down from his pants. She soon freed her hands from his pants and pulled pieces of her hair behind her ears.

"I want to…" She trailed off, looking him in the eye.

Paul didn't know what to say. The last time he had been in this situation with her, she rejected him and she told him she didn't trust him with her body. Dawn placed one hand against his cheek and Paul pulled back, her arm soon falling back to her side.

Paul shook his head and grabbed his jacket that was on the floor. "I can't do this." He turned around and soon walked out of the dance room, pulling his jacket back on.

Dawn watched as he walked away in a hurry and left. She blinked, surprised that he had rejected her.

A pained look crossed over Dawn's face as she felt tears beginning to blur in her eyes as she realized what had just happened.

As soon as Paul made it outside of the dance room, he leaned against the wall that was beside the dance room door and breathed out heavily, taking in everything all at once.

How dare she try to have sex with him now? Especially after she rejected him that last time he tried to? Paul felt his fists clench at his side again as he soon walked away from the dance room.

* * *

**A/N: I'm not really well at describing dances because it's really hard for me to write a dance scene tbh, but I did some research on how to write a well written dance scene. I did the best I could, but I'm sure that if I keep on practicing how to write a well written dance scene, then I'll become really good at it. I also feel that writing dance scenes are one of the most challenging things to write out.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Every Little Step by Bobby Brown, Revolution by Diplo ft. Faustix, It Won't Stop by Sevyn Streeter ft. Chris Brown**

**If you're curious about how I originally pictured those dances, I pictured it from these specific videos below.**

_**1.) Ash dance**_

**Type in Youtube: Every Little Step (I Take) - Bobby Brown (New Jack Swing Dance)**

**Click on first video!**

**I pictured Ash just being funny while he danced and I thought this dance suited well for him!**

_**2.) Dawn and Ash dance**_

**Type in Youtube: Step up all in 2014 Sean and Andie Awesome Last Dance HD 720p**

**Click on first video!**

**Obviously this is from Step Up All In, but at 0:34 I pictured Dawn and Ash dance like how Moose and Camille did!**

_**3.) Dawn and Paul dance**_

**Type in Youtube: Charles &amp; Aline | It Won't Stop - Sevyn Streeter ft. Chris Brown**

**Click on first video!**

**I pictured Dawn and Paul's dance pretty intimate, and that dance is perfect for them (;**

**...**

**I suggest you guys watch these three videos because they give you a good picture of those dances perfectly.**

**Review!**


	8. Orange

**A/N: I want to include that I am only doing those dance scenes because Dawn's audition is coming up pretty soon, and plus you guys already know that she's loved dancing her whole life. I won't focus too much on the dance scenes though because this story is not about dancing, it's about Paul feeling like she doesn't love him. But for now, there will be dance scenes… but in this chapter there is no dance scenes at all.**

_**Orange **_**symbolizes stress and the state of wanting something.**

* * *

Giselle stared at Paul as he slept with no shirt on, his phone laying on top of his chest. He looked pretty cute when he slept, Giselle had to admit that. She let her finger slide down Paul's chest slowly, careful not to wake him up. He was snoring pretty loudly, which was really starting to annoy her.

She looked at him sleeping for a little while longer before grabbing his phone from his chest and slamming it down on his chest, now waking him up. Paul's eyes immediately snapped open and she stared at him with an innocent look. "Morning," she breathed, now climbing over him as she sat on top of him.

Paul closed his eyes again and then reopened them, letting out a soft tired yawn. "Morning," he grumbled as his look now hardened on her.

"So, how's everything going with you and Dawn?" Giselle let her arms drop to each side of him.

"I told you I want you out of my problems." He snarled.

"Too bad I'm a slow listener," she sighed, burying one hand into her hair. "Now let me guess…" she trailed off, thinking of what might be Paul's current problem. "You were with her last night?"

Paul rolled his eyes as he breathed out a sigh. "Get off of me."

"What were you doing with her last night?" Giselle raised her eyebrow. "Having sex or something?"

"No. And for your information, I can do whatever the hell I want." Paul snapped, becoming annoyed as he remembered last night's previous events. "… We could've done it, but—"

"She shot you down?" Giselle raised her eyebrow.

"I shot her down." Paul answered, his eyes still hard on hers.

Giselle made a face at that comment. By noticing her face change, Paul knew she was about to say something that was going to piss him off. "I just didn't feel right about it." He added.

"So you're telling me that you had to chance to fuck her and you didn't?" Giselle chuckled lightly. "Wow, talk about pathetic."

Paul's face fell flat.

By that being said, Paul let his hand fall on the side of her arm as he pushed her off of him and off the bed, her body landing towards the floor along with a loud thud.

He immediately heard her groan angrily, but he could honestly care less.

Paul began to look through his phone as he heard her cursing at him from under her breath as she got back up on her feet. "You are really starting to piss me the hell off, Paul." Giselle said angrily.

Paul kept his eyes on his phone, not really caring about how she felt. "That makes the two of us."

Giselle groaned loudly as she got back up on her feet, fixing herself after being thrown to the floor. She looked back over at him and saw that he had still been looking down at his phone, she crossed her arms over her chest. "You do realize you might've screwed it up for you and her right?"

"I don't care," he mumbled.

"You should." Giselle said, "No girl likes to be turned down, especially when it comes to sex."

Paul breathed in angrily before breathing out air from his nose. He snapped his eyes on her. "I wouldn't talk. You're not exactly in a perfect relationship either."

"I told you, I don't do romance." She responded.

"Oh yeah," Paul got up from the bed and brushed passed her, putting on a grey shirt. "You fuck," he continued. "I get it," he rolled his eyes, grabbing his phone again.

Giselle glared at him, her arms still crossed over her chest. "So what are you going to do with your new problem then?"

Paul's back was facing her, his eyes still on his phone as he thought of what he was going to do. "I just need space." It was true, he really did need space. But the thing is, is Dawn willing to give him space? Paul hadn't known and he wasn't even sure that her feelings for him are even strong enough to care about space.

* * *

The basketball flew through the basket as Ash hung onto the edges of the basket, his body hanging above the ground. Gary laughed at his friend as he caught the ball in his hands.

Ash was breathing heavily as he rocked his body back and forth before letting free of the basket and falling back to the ground.

"Always flying man," Gary laughed, running a hand through his sweaty hair. His gray shirt was pressed against his chest, revealing his muscular toned body along with the sweat stains all over his shirt. Ash looked the same way, but with a white shirt on and red basketball shorts with Nike footwear.

Gary began to dribble the ball as he got in position to play again. "So what's the deal with you and miss señorita?" Ash soon fell into position in front of Gary, hearing his question, but not letting himself become too interested in that question to be distracted. "What, Giselle?"

"Who else would I be talking about?" Gary smirked as he ran past Ash, dribbling the ball at the same time as he started heading toward the basket. Ash caught up to him, his body in front of Gary's and his arm out to block Gary from shooting at the basket.

Gary turned his body around as he began running in the opposite direction, still dribbling the ball. Ash followed him and tried to steal the ball, but before he could, Gary made a quick spin before raising his arms high above his head and threw the ball into the basket.

"She still won't go out with me," Ash sighed tiredly, taking a breath of air after trying to steal the ball from Gary. Gary took a small breather and picked up his water bottle that was sitting on a table right beside the basketball court outside from Ash's house.

The two boys let the ball bounce along the concrete, not bothering to even pick it up because of how tired they were.

Gary chugged down a large amount of water to the point that the water bottle began to scrunch up, as if the life had been sucked out of it. Gary placed the now empty scrunched up plastic water bottle on top of the table before grabbing his small rag he had on the table and placing it against his forehead.

"She's playing hard to get," Gary assumed, trying to dry off his sweat with his rag.

Ash grabbed his own water and chugged down a lot of it, but he didn't drink it till it got empty, he made sure to leave some for later. "No, she just doesn't want to do anything romantic." Ash put his bottle back down on the table as he tried to figure the girl out. "She's like so confusing. She hates romance, but yet she went out with me that one day when I took her bowling."

"That was probably because she was trying to get inside your pants." Gary dropped his rag back down on the table.

"No!" Ash retorted, but then he remembered she had tried to have sex with him that night. "Well…" Gary raised his eyebrows when he realized Ash was just about to change his mind. "She did try to have sex with me in my car…"

Gary laughed as he shook his head. "I seriously think you should let her go. She's obviously all into sex and shit and you're not that type of guy."

"I know," Ash sighed, not knowing what else to think. "But I think I can change her."

Gary scoffed, "Don't," Gary walked past his friend as he went towards the court and grabbed the basketball in his hands. One thing about Gary is that he knows Ash too well and he knows what's good for him and what isn't. From what he's been hearing, that girl is no good and is way out of his league.

Ash heard as Gary said this, watching as he turned around, beginning to dribble the ball slowly at his side. Ash slowly walked back onto the court, standing in front of Gary. Gary began to get in position again, but Ash really wanted to know what Gary meant by that comment. "Why can't I change her?"

Before Gary began to dribble the ball again, he let out a small sigh before answering his best friend's question. "She doesn't want to be saved. So don't save her Ash," With that being said, Gary turned away from his original position and threw the ball high above his head as it went straight into the basket.

Ash watched as the ball went in, registering those words. He looked toward the ground, not knowing what to do now. He cared about her too much to not change her, but then again is it possible to change someone who doesn't want to be changed? Ash looked at Gary and saw he was walking back to over to him. "You used to be so crazy about Misty and she was a good girl for you."

Ash blinked after hearing that comment. He hasn't mentioned her in such a long time and the simple fact that his best friend brought her up made him feel uneasy on the inside. Ash frowned. "Yeah, but… I don't see her anymore." Ash's thoughts began to drift off to his ex-girlfriend. Misty was his first love and she was the only girl he truly cared about. When he left to Sinnoh to continue high school and working toward his basketball career, a lot changed. Misty couldn't take the long distance so she decided to break up with him.

"I get it and I feel like you should move on, but to a girl like Giselle? I think that's the worst girl to ever move on to. I mean come on, the girl doesn't even respect herself." Gary told him. "So do me a favor Ash, let her go."

Ash was at loss for words, not knowing what to tell Gary.

"I'm serious, Ash." Gary got all serious now. "I feel like she's no good for you. You deserve better than that,"

"Alright," Ash said, not knowing what else to say.

"So are you going to let her go?" Gary raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah," Ash lied.

"You better not be lying to me Ash." Gary noticed with his answer that he was obviously lying.

"I'm not," Ash turned his body to go get his water bottle again.

Gary watched as he did, not sure if Ash is really going to stay away from that girl. He shook his head and went to get the basketball again, trying to avoid the stress that was now entering inside his body.

Ash couldn't even think right now. He missed Misty so much, so much to the point that he wanted to break down. But every time he thought about her, he felt so weak and he didn't want to feel that anymore. He just wanted to move on. Yeah, Giselle may seem like she's not his type at all, but there was just something about her that Ash couldn't seem to stay away from. Ever since she entered his life, his thoughts about Misty kept going to a minimum and he liked that because it was like she was helping him in a way, as if she was helping him get over her.

Ash lied to Gary; he can't stay away from Giselle, it's impossible. He knew there was so much more to her behind that wild personality of hers and he was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

Two days left until the day of her audition and he knew that she was struggling without him. She may have practiced some dances with Ash, but the dances she does with him will never match his.

Paul leaned his back against the door of his car, smoke leaving from his mouth and floating along the air. It had been very dark outside and slightly cold, but not too cold. The street lights had been on, and he was currently looking at the park within the city, seeing that nobody had been there, only but a few people.

Many cars went passed him, along with people who like to stay out late. But Paul wanted to lean against his car and just think about life and everything that was happening.

Paul held his blunt in between his index and middle finger, blowing out more smoke from his mouth. He looked down at the floor, keeping his eyes on the floor for a short moment.

"_Regulators. We regulate any stealing of his property and we're damn good too. But you can't be any geek off the street, gotta be handy with the steel if you know what I mean, earn your keep!"_

He hadn't realized it until now that he had been through so much shit in his life. Him and his brother Reggie, fighting through life together. Paul thought his life was over when his parents had died, but Reggie proved to him that it wasn't and then he met Dawn, the first girl he truly fell in love with. All the other girls that ever came into his life was never taken seriously. He had the same mentality as Giselle at the time, but when he met Dawn, she changed everything for him.

Just thinking of Dawn and everything they've been through together really made him feel horrible on the inside. His love for her was unconditional and it'll always be that way till the day he dies.

"_Just hit the Eastside of the LBC on a mission trying to find Mr. Warren G. Seen a car full of girls, ain't no need to tweak, all you skirts know what's up with 213."_

Dawn must've been really hurt about him walking out on her, rejecting her, but he sort of felt like she was using him in that moment. To him, she must've realized she hurt him very much when she said she didn't trust him with her body, so she wanted to make him happy and try to prove him wrong. But Paul didn't appreciate that at all. If he was going to have sex with her for the first time, he was going to have it the right way, not in some freaking dance room.

He knew how much her virginity meant to her and he knew that she wanted to have it with him somewhere nice and romantic, so he wasn't going to ruin that for her.

Paul placed the blunt against his lips as he inhaled a large amount of smoke before letting the smoke rush out into the cold night air.

He listened as the people were talking and hanging out around the park while playing music; he also listened as cars drove from here and there.

Paul let the back of his head rest on the door of his car once more as he closed his eyes, dropping his hand with his blunt down at his side again, his blunt hanging in between his middle and index fingers.

He just wanted to smoke all night and not give a fuck about anything, and that's exactly what he did for the rest of the night.

* * *

Taking another long breath of air, Ash ran a hand through his damp hair due to all the sweat he formed that day. He spent the whole day playing basketball and running miles with Gary around the city. In order to be the best of the best, you have to work for it and you have to work hard. What Ash always hated about that simple fact that he was always so tired after putting in a lot of effort.

It was currently 1 am, going on 2, and Ash walked inside his big house—he lived in one of the city's row houses which was colored burgundy—and closed the door shut behind him, placing his basketball on top of his dresser.

He went straight for the bathroom as he switched the light on and took a look at himself in the mirror. He looked a hot mess and he needed a shower right away. Sighing, he exited the bathroom and soon spotted Giselle sitting at the corner of his bed with one leg over the other.

Ash dropped his arm back to his side, surprised to see her at his house, and at a late time too. "Giselle?"

She looked at him for a long moment before finally speaking. "Hey, Pretty Boy."

"What are you doing here?" He asked her. "How'd you know where I live?"

"I know people who know people," She mumbled, "And your mother was kind enough to let me wait for you to get home."

"Oh," Ash said, still wondering why she was there in the first place. He slowly walked over to his dresser to find himself a pair of clothes, but he was still stuck on the fact that she was in his room and inside his house.

Giselle stared at him, tilting her head slightly to the side. "I came here to say goodbye."

Ash looked up as soon as she said that, turning his head over to her. "You're leaving?" He asked her, a bit shocked.

"I know how you feel about me, but I'm not a good person for you." Giselle slowly got up on her feet.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows together, confused about all of this. He liked her way too much and to have her randomly come by his house to tell him that she isn't the one for him really bothered him. Ash couldn't just let her go, he was way too hooked on her. "You're perfect," was all he could say.

Giselle smiled slightly at his comment and chuckled lightly. "I'd like to believe that." She slowly took a small step closer to him in her heels.

Ash watched as she slowly approached him and she let her left palm fall on the side of his face and hair. "You're a jock. A lot of girls would kill to be with someone like you. I'm nothing special." She smiled softly at him and slowly let her palm fall to her side.

Giselle nodded her head in goodbye as she tried to brush past him, but he stopped her from doing so. Giselle looked down at her arm, seeing as he grabbed her and then looked up in his eyes. What was he doing?

Instantly, Ash pressed his lips onto hers, quickly surprising the brunette. But that didn't stop her from kissing him back.

When Ash tried to kiss her more, she pulled back, not letting it get any further.

Giselle stared at him and he stared at her too and after a long moment of silence that seemed to go almost forever, Giselle walked up to him and pushed him hard in his chest as he fell on his back along his bed. Ash was taken aback as he felt her climb over him and her mouth being smashed onto his, her hair falling over his face.

Their mouths tackled each other aggressively as she moaned against his mouth. She was beginning to pull up his shirt before getting it off of him. Ash didn't know what he was doing, he held her tightly against him as he picked her up and started holding her against him as she made out with him. He placed her body on top of his dresser as she pulled his face closer to her with her arms, his face falling to the flesh of her skin, against her breasts. He found himself slowly pulling on her spaghetti strap tank top while she moaned lightly, her hands digging into his wet and sweaty hair.

But Ash soon realized what he was doing. He wasn't this kind of person and he wasn't ready to have sex with her. At least, not now.

Ash paused, his lips resting against the side of her cheek. "Wait, wait." He called out of breath.

Giselle opened her eyes, hearing that comment. And just like that, her whole mood changed. Instantly, she pushed him in the chest off of her hard with her hand, an annoyed look now present on her face when Ash separated from her body.

Ash realized he had pissed her off with the look she had, but he couldn't let this moment go on any further.

"I have something to say first."

Giselle kept that look on her face, deciding to remain silent and hear what he has to say.

"If we could just take things slow, like maybe form a close friendship first and then turn it into a relationship, something good could happen." Ash told her. "I will show you what it's like to be with someone that is not about sex. I will show you what it's like to be loved."

Giselle slowly got back down on her feet, pulling her tank top back up since her cheetah print bra was out after having that heated session with him. She listened to those last words and became really upset. "I don't think you get it when I say I don't do relationships. Relationships are a complete waste of my time, just like you." She said angrily, "I'm the complete opposite from you. I just want to fuck because hell, I just feel like fucking, alright? I don't want nothing else and since you obviously do not want that, then why should I continue wasting my time with someone like you?"

"Why do you hate relationships so much?" Ash began to get upset too. "I don't get it, you're so freaking confusing."

"That's none of your concern," She spat.

"It just doesn't make any sense to me. What do you even get out of sex? I get that it feels amazing, but if you really think about it, that amazing feeling only lasts for a few seconds. But being in a relationship with someone, especially if you have really strong feelings for them—that feeling lasts for more than that." Ash told her.

Giselle scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And apparently almost every guy in this world chooses sex over relationships anyway. So what is your point?"

"My point is that just because you've may have been involved with guys that's all about sex, doesn't mean that I am." Ash watched as her face began to soften up a bit. He took a step closer to her. "I don't know what it is that makes you hate relationships so much, but you need to understand that not all guys are like that. _I'm _not like that."

Giselle stared at him for a little while longer as she listened to those words. She was just so angry at him and she just didn't understand him at all. Why was he so different compared to all the other guys she has put up with? What is it that Dawn likes about him so much?

She quickly tore her eyes off of him. "Do me a favor, stop trying to change me." She snapped before heading for his room door. With that, she left his room and Ash didn't even bother trying to stop her from doing so.

Ash shook his head as he headed towards his bathroom.

Giselle was so stubborn and she obviously has no idea what she is doing to herself, but then again maybe Gary could be right. Maybe she really doesn't want to be saved.

* * *

**A/N: I personally love Ash. He is such a good guy, and I know many of you don't like the fact that he even cares about Giselle, but the only reason he cares so much about her is because he feels that there is more to her story and that she's really not who she turns out to be. He believes that she really isn't a hoe, like how she expresses herself as and he wants to figure out why she became the way she did. He basically wants to help her and find out what exactly was it that made her into that kind of person.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Regulaters by Warren G ft. Nate Dogg**

**Review and let me know how you guys feel about Dawn and Paul's drama and also Ash and Giselle's drama!**

**Also, would you guys like it if I update every week? I update every two weeks, but idk.. its up to you guys. (:**


	9. Ivory White

**A/N: I love having meaningful reviews, it makes me so happy (:**

_**Ivory White **_**symbolizes indifference, frustration, anxious feelings, and intense fear.**

* * *

Today was the day of Dawn's dance audition.

Paul told himself he wouldn't go. He needed more space away from her, to get his mind straight. But then again, it was the day of her dance audition at Veilstone Dance University, something she always looked forward to. He couldn't just not go and see her audition, it was an important event for her.

Paul sighed. He just had to see her.

Paul walked into the building as he heard music playing from far inside. It was dark in the halls, but he walked down it and soon found his way to where the dance audition was being held. It was being taken place in a big theater, what looked to him like a Broadway Theater. He had entered from the front entrance of the theater, and happened to be viewing from the doorways, where all the seats were.

He remained at the side of the doors, noticing that there wasn't an audience and that it was a private audition for many dancers.

Paul made sure he wasn't present as he heard one of the judge's call out. "Next!" Sounding slightly irritated.

Paul watched as the girl who was in front of the judges disappear somewhere backstage. The only lights that were on in the huge theater was the stage lights, so Paul could barely be seen, especially since he was by the doors.

Paul licked his lips as he now saw the girl he had been waiting for enter onto the stage.

Her face was covered in slight glitter, her hair tucked in a shiny silver headband (the ones she usually wears as a Blue Diamond) and her face covered in mostly natural make up, with some mascara and skin toned eye shadow with light pink lip gloss.

She wore a black body suit with beige stockings and her beige dance shoes (also the ones she usually wears as a Blue Diamond).

Dawn immediately took his breath away. She looked so beautiful and gentle.

"Dawn Berlitz. A Blue Diamond," The man with the glasses said. He happened to be one of the audition judges, along with two other people who were sitting right next to him at the table facing the stage.

The other two people were women, one who had brown hair and was very young looking and one who had burgundy hair who looked around her 30's.

Dawn smiled lightly at his comment.

"I do want to see what you got, especially since your dancing seems to be breathtaking. But, are you able to take _my _breath away on this stage?"

"I'm not sure, sir." She answered, her eyes on him. Paul could tell by the sound of her voice that she was very nervous. "But I do hope I got what you're looking for."

The man with the glasses pointed his pen at her radio. "So what is the song that you are going to dance to?" He asked her.

Dawn was holding a radio in her hand, holding it by the handle as she took a step forward on the stage in front of the judges. "The song I will be dancing to is Crazy in Love by Beyonce. It's actually the newest version, not the one with Jay-Z."

"Never heard of that version." The burgundy haired women said.

"Alright, well let's see what you got." The man said.

Dawn nodded her head as she took a last look at all of the judges before turning around briefly and placed the radio down on the floor, pressing the on button.

Paul leaned against the side of the doorway he was standing by, hardening his eyes on Dawn as he saw her getting ready to do her performance.

Dawn began to take slow steps backwards as she concentrated on the floor, her mind all over the place.

"_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no. Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no."_

Dawn closed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around herself, thinking of what could possibly go wrong. She did a twirl and followed her way toward the floor.

Dawn was really nervous and Paul could tell. She was starting off not too strong and he didn't like that one bit. Why wasn't she giving it her all?

She was so nervous that she couldn't focus much, she moved on the floor with the beat. But she wasn't supposed to be doing this alone, she was supposed to be with Paul.

Ash couldn't be there either, since he had a game that night, and he couldn't miss it. Dawn just didn't want to be alone at her audition and just by the simple fact that neither Paul or Ash was there to help her, she was so worried, so, so worried.

Paul was also wondering where had Ash been, he thought he was going to be her partner, but he wasn't even there. Where the hell was that guy? For the first time in his life, he actually wanted Ash to be there only because she obviously didn't want to do that dance alone.

Dawn did her best on trying to focus on dancing. If she hadn't screwed things up with Paul, then maybe she wouldn't feel as nervous as she felt now.

Every time she danced with him, she always felt comfortable and never felt no one else's eyes on her except for his.

Dawn slowly moved up as she bent backwards slowly, her head back and eyes closed with her mouth opened.

"_I look and stare so deep in your eyes. I touch on you more and more every time."_

As the beat became more intense, Dawn put more intense energy into her next dance moves as she tried to think of Paul and imagined dancing with him and the moves they did together. All the swaying, the jumping, the grinding, the vibrating.

"_Such a funny thing for me to try to explain. How I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame, yeah..."_

Dawn made her dances stronger and more challenging, but as soon as she dropped down halfway to the floor, she messed up.

Paul's look immediately changed when he saw her mess up.

"Oh my god," Dawn quickly got up on her feet and turned off the music in panic, taking a slight breath of air.

The judges all gave her a hard look, especially the man with the glasses. The man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I got a bit nervous." She said, her voice sounding shaky.

The man let out a hard breath as he dropped his pen onto his clipboard.

The woman with the brown hair laughed, shaking her head. Dawn looked over at the woman and looked back at the man, a nervous and scared look on her face.

"Are you ready now?" The man asked, a hint of attitude in his voice.

Dawn stared at the man for a long moment, not knowing what to say. It was so hard to dance without Paul being with her. Though she always danced comfortably with the Blue Diamonds because they all danced with her. But dancing by herself, especially in front of very professional dance judges scared the hell out of her. Dawn needed Paul.

She closed her mouth shut, her eyes beginning to slightly tear up.

Paul stared at Dawn, waiting for her to answer. But she was taking way too long to answer and she looked way too scared. He had never seen her that way and that really bothered him.

Paul shook his head as he opened his mouth up to speak. "Yeah, she's ready!" Paul shouted as he ran down the aisles, passed the many empty seats.

The judges turned around as soon as they heard another voice and saw that it was someone who wasn't even supposed to be at the audition.

"This is an audition, young man, you are not allowed to be here." The man with the glasses said loudly.

Paul ignored them as he ran up the stairs and onto the stage as he reached Dawn.

The judges were still talking about his presence, but Paul could really care less. He stood in front of Dawn and this time he got to take a really good look at her.

She looked way too gorgeous, her skin shinning in the light with the glitter on her face. Her hair nicely tucked into her shiny silver headband. Paul didn't know what to say as soon as he took a good look at her. She looked harmless and also like a princess, but no she's a Blue Diamond. But she's _his _Blue Diamond.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Paul brought his hand up to her face and wiped her tear with his thumb.

"Young man?" The man with the glasses shouted.

Paul ignored him once again, his focus on Dawn as he dropped his arm back to his side. "You can do this." He told her.

"I can't," she said, "Not without you."

"Ms. Berlitz?" The man called from his table.

"You can do this without me." Paul assured her. "I'm not always going to be there, you need to remember that."

Dawn looked down, more tears blurring her eyes.

Paul brought her face back up to face him. "You're a Blue Diamond, and the captain of the Blue Diamonds." He told her. "You did that without me."

"Ms. Berlitz?" The man called again.

"Yeah, but not by myself. I had other girls dancing with me. Now it's the real deal, here inside this theater with professional judges." She blinked back those tears that were about to fall as she let out a small breath of air before speaking. "Besides, I originally wanted to do this audition with you. You're the only one that can make me forget that there are other people watching."

Paul let his thumb caress her cheek. "You can still forget that there are other people watching. _I'm _here watching. And you are going to do this."

Dawn stared at him for a little longer as she smiled slightly at him.

"Ms. Berlitz, we're on rush hour. And if you're going to keep talking to that young man, we're going to have to disqualify you." The man said.

Dawn turned her head to the man and shook her head. "No,"

"Well are you ready now?" The man asked, sounding very impatient.

Paul wanted to punch that man's face in.

"Yes sir." She pulled away from Paul and went to go turn on her radio.

Paul hurried to the back stage, where the curtain was hanging and shoved his hand inside his pocket as he now watched her beginning to start over again.

"_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no. Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no."_

Dawn close her eyes tightly before throwing her head back and wrapping her arms around her back tightly.

Paul was watching, so that was enough motivation for her.

Dawn tilted her head from every corner before letting her arms free from that hard grip. As soon as she dropped to the floor, building great movements, she felt like she could do anything.

Paul waited for the beat to become more intense so she can put her all in. He knew she could do it, she just had to believe in herself.

"_I look and stare so deep in your eyes. I touch on you more and more every time."_

As if all energy and motivation came here, Dawn put in extra power in her moves as she brought her fists up hard into the air, her body hitting every beat along with her head.

She felt strong and much more confident than before, she couldn't describe it. It was like Paul made her realize something, just by him doing that helped her a lot.

Dawn kicked her leg in the air, twirling and popping her hips from beat to beat.

Maybe Paul was right, maybe she really could do this alone and without him.

"_Such a funny thing for me to try to explain. How I'm feeling and my pride is the one to blame, yeah.."_

Dawn felt as if she was the only one there, like no one was watching her, except for Paul.

All she really needed was Paul and that was enough motivation for her. If only Paul could realize how much she loved him, if only he could believe her.

Paul bumped his head to the rhythm of the song, watching her dance. She was doing great, especially without him. The dance moves she was doing were moves he had never taught her before.

"_Got me looking so crazy right now, your loves got me looking so crazy right now. Got me looking so crazy right now, your touch got me looking so crazy right now."_

Dawn continued to hit every beat with her body, her body swinging back and forth. She was more confident with her dances this time and Paul could tell. He continued to bump his head with the beat, satisfied with the way she was dancing. She was doing just great.

Dawn continued to dance, keeping her mind focused on every moment. She finished off with a matching body rhythm from the songs rhythm, careful to end gently.

"_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no…"_

Paul immediately began clapping hard. "Whoo!" He shouted in excitement as he ran out onto the stage and gave Dawn a huge hug.

Dawn laughed in excitement as Paul gave her a big hug, nearly knocking her down, but she caught her balance.

After a moment, the two looked over at the judges. Dawn slowly walked up closer to them as the judges discussed their decision on her.

Paul stared at the judges before opening his mouth to speak. "You guys are fucking crazy if you don't pick her."

Dawn watched as the judges discussed something amongst themselves. Dawn's smile remained on her face as the man with the glasses turned to face her again.

"That was very enlightening." The man said. "But from what I'm noticing is that you express yourself as if you are dancing with someone else."

Paul raised his eyebrow at the comment.

Dawn's smile slowly began to subside as she realized what they were talking about.

"The issue here is that if you do a dance that includes a partner, it should only be done with the partner and not by yourself because if you do that dance by yourself, a lot is missing." The burgundy haired woman added.

Dawn listened to the woman, not sure of what to say now, her mood changing once again.

"And a lot is missing with the dance you just showed us, like the partner." The brown haired woman pointed out.

"Well, without a partner in the dance, we cannot let you—"

"I'll be her partner." Paul took a step forward, cutting off the man's sentence.

"No, it's too late sir, she has already had two chances." The man said.

"So what?" Paul snapped. "You're gonna let her go off of some bullshit like this?" He raised his eyebrow. "I can be her partner. I can make you see a whole nother perspective of dancing with just me being her dance partner."

"I already made my deci—"

"You said so yourself you wanted to see what she's got and what she's made of, right? Now that you finally get the chance to, you're just going to turn her down just because she didn't have a partner to give her dance more meaning? Talk about pathetic." Paul spat, his fists clenching at his side. "And you guys call yourselves professional." Paul scoffed, turning to face Dawn as he now saw tears beginning to form in her eyes.

She looked absolutely hurt and crushed. It pained Paul to see her like that and he went up to her and held her face in his palm. "Hey," he whispered, wiping her tears again, "Don't worry, I'm going to dance with you. You're gonna get this, I promise." He whispered.

Dawn closed her eyes. "I hope you're right." She said shakily, another tear rolling down her beautiful face.

Paul wiped that tear with his thumb. "I am," he let his arm fall back to his side as he went over to her radio and switched it to another song.

"Young man!" the man shouted. Paul ignored him though as he got into position.

The song began to play from the beginning and Dawn immediately remembered that this dance has always meant something to her. This dance was supposed to be the dance she was originally supposed to do and now that she can do it right now, she was still hopeful.

She went toward the center of the stage and stared at Paul as he started walking up to her. They let their bodies hit dangerously, just like they always practiced. Paul had his hand holding hers and before he can hold it any longer, Dawn instantly pulled her hand away from his, as if snatching it away as soon as the beat began to hit.

"_I love when you pulling up in your jeep, bumping all your beats. J's on with your shades on, just to bring me something to eat. You the man up in these streets, but when it comes to my heart.."_

She was letting small tears flow from her face as she placed her hand against Paul's chest, pushing him back. Paul grabbed her from each side of her face.

She felt like her whole world was crashing right before her, but Paul was making her feel a little bit better piece by piece with this dance. She trusted him with this, he seemed so confident with her and with this dance. It was like he knew this dance would probably make a difference for the judges that was watching. But the thing is, she really didn't know if that dance really would make a difference.

Dawn let those tears stop falling and focused on the dance again. She had to be concentrating on what she was doing and she definitely couldn't mess up again. She tried to relax a bit in his arms as he whirled her around and brought her back closer to him. Dawn closed her eyes while he continued to move with her.

"_Baby hop in my ride, oooh it's hot as hell outside."_

When his hands released from her body, Dawn made sure to open her eyes as she now began do to a strong dance, hitting every beat with her body along with Paul following behind her, mimicking the same moves as her.

She just couldn't mess up, not again. Dawn focused her hardest on this dance. She was tired of showing her weaknesses to these judges, she didn't want them to think she was weak. She wanted to prove them that she is strong and she can do just about anything.

Her body tensed as she felt him grab her from her waist and twirled her around as the song began to progress.

"_Drive slowwwwww, take your time."_

Dawn most certainly felt comfortable when she danced with Paul. He was the only person that managed to take away her stage fright. She was always so shy and nervous about messing up, but whenever he was around or even volunteering to help her dance, she made no mistakes. She was doing everything perfect.

She felt safe in his arms. He danced with her perfectly and held her perfectly. She was like a feather in his arms. He was the perfect kind of dancing partner she could ever ask for.

Dawn always wondered why Paul never considered dancing as his hobby because he was so good at it, but he always mentioned that dancing isn't his thing. But Dawn really appreciated that he would dance just to help her out and to become a better dancer. It was a lot of help for her.

The feel of his hands on her body, carefully moving her with the music in sync, almost made her forget that she was even inside this huge theater where the judges was watching them, especially her.

"_Every little thing that you do got me feeling some type of way. When you give me that thunder, you make my summer rain. Oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh. Everyday everyday…"_

Paul kept his eyes hard on her, his mind more focused on her body movements and how she was moving with him. He didn't want her to mess up at all because he knew how much this meant to her. He wanted her to make it into the dance university and this is the only shot she has. She couldn't mess up, she just couldn't. He was hoping that she could see in his eyes that all he wants is for her to make it to that university, to follow her dream.

He was doing everything right, but he was a little concerned about Dawn because she looked very scared in the face and he was hoping that the judges wouldn't take note of that.

"_And it won't stop. Boom boom."_

Paul watched her drop her fists onto his chest hard and pushed him back roughly along with the beat. They couldn't hit a wall, so they pretended like they did.

He noticed that she was giving her all by the way she had pushed him back. She was pushing him back pretty roughly, he could tell that she wanted this badly because his chest was beginning to hurt a bit. Paul kept his natural face though as he listened to her short nervous breaths while he let out some on his own.

Her hot breath was touching his lips and he instantly twirled her around again.

"_Boooooooom."_

Paul hoped that the judges wasn't able to read body language, because she was trying too hard and he could tell by how hard she moved. She was dancing great, but she was trying a bit too hard and he hoped that the judges would still let her in.

"_With every single part of me, my love for you is constantly forever and ever on repeat, on repeat and it won't stop. Boom boom booooooom."_

Dawn felt like she was doing everything just right, but she was also so angry. She just wanted to prove that she was good enough. _No_ just wouldn't be the answer for her.

Her heartbeat began to grow as she furrowed her eyebrows together.

"_Rocking your body, rocking your body to sleep."_

Paul now pushed her down to the floor on her back and then let the bottom part of his body dive down in between her legs. Dawn looked up at him, letting out a low breath of air.

Paul grabbed her left leg which was on his left side of his waist and brought it around the other side of his waist and lifted her completely up against up. She had her back facing him and Paul had his lips touching the side of her left shoulder.

"_And it won't stop, boom boom."_

Paul held his hands over her hands against her chest. And with the beat, they mimicked a heartbeat while popping. He let out heavy breaths of air as he did this, hoping that this dance wasn't in any way bad toward the judges.

"_Boooooom."_

Paul twirled her out of his hands as the two started walking away from each other. Dawn felt her heart racing and Paul was a bit nervous too.

Once the song came to a complete end, they looked at each other and then slowly looked at the judges before them.

The judges were looking at the two of them through a big gap between them.

The man with the glasses cleared his throat. Dawn was nervous and so scared about what the man was going to say. By the look in his face, she could tell that there was nothing good in those eyes.

The man looked down at the clipboard, writing something down with his pen. "Next," he called out.

Paul's face immediately fell flat and so did Dawn's.

"Wait, what?" Paul said in shock, walking up closer to the judges. "She's the best dancer I've seen in this city. You can't just not let her in."

"I've already gave Ms. Berlitz two chances, she doesn't get a third."

"And she did perfect in all shots. You're being a fucking asshole because you know she's better than all of the dancers you've picked so far."

"Next!" The man called again, becoming irritated.

"You're a fucking prick." Paul scoffed, turning to look over at Dawn only to see a very pained look on her face.

Paul shook his head, becoming really pissed off. "She's a Blue Diamond. She deserves to move forward with dancing," he snapped, his eyes fixed on that man.

"Young man, if she were good enough, she wouldn't need a partner to help her. That shows a lot on her part." The man looked back down at his clipboard and continued to write something down.

Dawn's mouth fell open at the comment, letting those words sink in.

Paul couldn't believe what this man was saying. He wanted so badly to go up to this man and punch him senseless.

Paul turned to look at Dawn and saw that she had ran back stage. This really ticked him off. He had his fists clenched tightly at his sides before looking at the man with the glasses. "You're fucking pathetic. With your blind ass. That's why you didn't see her moves very well because obviously you need a new set of glasses with extremely high prescription." Paul snapped. "I hope you know that all these other dancers you've picked are nowhere _near _as perfect as she is. You best believe that." After having said this, he ran back stage after Dawn, not really giving a shit about what the man had to say.

The man was at loss for words, surprised that he had said something like that to him. "… My glasses have high prescription."

The burgundy haired woman laughed. "Yeah,"

* * *

"Dawn! Wait." Paul grabbed her by her arm as he whipped her around to face him.

"What Paul!?" She cried, lots of tears rushing down her face. "There's nothing you can do to make me feel better. Everything I've worked so hard for is gone. It's all gone. I don't even know why I've started dancing in the first place…" Dawn was looking away as she said this, her voice shaking. She closed her eyes tightly and let more tears rush down her face.

Paul grabbed her face and pulled her face in his chest. "You've started dancing because that's what you like to do. That's what you love to do. You were born to dance." He told her. "Fuck those judges, obviously they don't know how to handle the best. You can always get a shot at other places."

"My dream is here Paul. Here, nowhere else." She cried into his chest.

"You can always make your dream of being a famous dancer come true. But you need to understand that there are always going to be times when things get rough, and this is one of those times. But you don't give up, you keep fighting." Paul pulled her face up so she can look at him, his hand under her chin. "Fuck them. You're a _star _in my eyes. Remember that."

Dawn stared into Paul's eyes as he said this, that hurtful look still on her face. Paul loved her way too much and by seeing that look on her face killed him on the inside. He knew how badly she wanted this, but he'd never thought those guys wouldn't give her a chance. She is an amazing dancer and always will be.

Tears blurred Dawn's eyes again as she opened her mouth to speak. "I want to go home," she said shakily.

Paul stared at her for a brief moment before letting his hands fall back to his sides. "Okay,"

He began pulling off his black jean jacket and wrapped it around her bare shoulders so she can be warm. She was only wearing a black body suit and nothing warm, so Paul handed her his jacket.

He walked her down the pitch black hall and soon made it outside of the building.

Dawn's arms were wrapped around herself and Paul guided her to his car before opening the door for her. Dawn climbed into the passenger's seat and Paul closed her door, looking at her through the window and saw that she was looking down with her arms still wrapped around her.

Paul sighed as he walked around his car and opened the door of the car before climbing into the driver's seat, closing the door shut.

It fell silent in the car and Paul knew that Dawn obviously didn't want to talk the whole car ride. He knew her way too well.

Paul pulled out his keys and started the car, the engine beginning to start.

He began to move his car into the street steadily before driving at a steady pace.

Dawn looked out her window, tears still flowing down her face.

As Paul was driving, she continued to cry for a few moments, but she eventually stopped and just remained quiet.

Paul sighed, not knowing what to do for the rest of the car ride. It was currently 8 at night and he wanted to take her home, but then again he knew that if she went home, she wouldn't feel better. And he wanted her to feel better.

Paul licked his lips before looking over at her and saw that she was now sleeping. He turned to look back at the window shield.

It was good that she was sleeping, that way she can take her mind off of things for a bit.

Paul decided he wasn't going to take her home, he decided to take her some place special. A place that Reggie had for a while, and he was sure that Reggie wouldn't mind. Paul did have the keys to that special place and he planned to take Dawn's mind off of her audition.

He looked over at Dawn once again.

She looked much more calm than she was earlier that day, sleeping with her head pressed against the passenger window, his jacket around her body to warm her up.

No matter how hurt he felt towards her, with all the things she did, and the bullshit with Ash, Paul still couldn't push away those feelings for her. She will always be his light, his princess, his Blue Diamond, and his _star. _Paul couldn't be selfish tonight. She needs him and Paul was willing to be there for her.

Paul turned to look to the front again.

He wasn't so sure if she loved him or not, but he decided to let those thoughts pass by for now.

* * *

**A/N: Those judges were bitches. Anyway, I think you guys will really like the next chapter. Paul is finally being a little less selfish and more considerate when it comes to Dawn.**

**If you're curious what Dawn's dance solo looked like, I picture it from this video below.**

**Type in Youtube: Kadebostany - Crazy In Love choreography by Anna Edinak - Danceshot 25 - Dance Centre Myway**

**Click on first video!**

**I pictured Dawn dancing like the girl on the left, but I also pictured the song by Beyonce's version, not the version in that video.**

…

**As for the other dance with Paul, I used the same dance they practiced in chapter 7 and the link for that video is on that chapter on the author's note.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Crazy in Love REMIX by Beyonce, It Won't Stop by Sevyn Streeter ft. Chris Brown**

**Review!**


	10. Pink

**A/N: I just need to get this out. **

**This story is mainly about Paul's relationship with Dawn, and Ash and Giselle's story is mixed up in there because Paul feels like Ash is a threat toward his and Dawn's relationship, that's why Giselle has a story with Ash. She offered to help Paul in the first place, so of course I'm going to make her have a story with Ash. Many of you may not like Giselle, but to be honest, I really don't care. This**** is just a fictional story tbfh. It's not real.**

**And anyway, this story is supposed to be mainly focused on Dawn and Paul, not Giselle and Ash.**

**I like Ash best with Misty, but I really like Giselle because she fits that bad girl, slutty, stuck up persona. Misty is too good to play a role like her. I can't imagine Misty as the careless type of person like Giselle is. That's why I didn't include Misty as one of the main characters in this story. Also, notice how in my plot description (the characters part) that Ash and Giselle's name is not combined together like Paul and Dawn's names are? That should say a lot.**

**A lot **_**is **_**going to happen for this story, and it only makes sense why I added these characters. None of you have any idea of where this story is going or how it's going to end, so don't assume what you don't know. I really can't please everyone.**

**That's all that I really needed to say about that.**

**Um..**

**Just a warning, there is some sexual scenes in this chapter.**

_**Pink **_**symbolizes love, care, and passionate desires.**

* * *

The car began to come to a stop, the car shaking a bit with the engine. Dawn's eyes opened as she felt the car pull to a stop, seeing that she was inside Paul's car. She let out a soft yawn and looked out the window, her eyebrows furrowed together when she saw the outside surroundings. It didn't look familiar where they were.

There was a river and a big beautiful cabin, a cabin she had never seen before.

Paul was watching as she stared at the cabin for a while.

"Where are we?" She asked him, her eyes still fixed on the cabin. She was confused where they were because she had fallen asleep throughout the whole ride there.

"At a cabin my brother had for a while." Paul answered, still looking at her.

Dawn stared at the cabin for a little while longer, taking in its beauty with all the golden lights and the outside view of it. She could tell that the inside must be beautiful because the outside of it most definitely was.

Dawn whipped her head around to look at Paul who was looking at her. "Did we leave the city?"

"No, we're still here." He told her. "Just more downtown."

Dawn blinked, biting down on her lower lip slightly and looking over at the cabin again. "… I thought you was going to take me home."

"I was, but… I felt like you needed a small breather." Paul nodded his head slightly as he looked at the cabin and then back at her again.

He let her stare at the cabin from inside his car a little while longer before sighing. "Well let's go inside," he said as he shut off his car and placed his keys inside his pocket.

Dawn turned to look at Paul exit his car, closing the door behind him. She saw as he walked around the car and opened the door for her.

She looked up at him, not sure of what to do now.

Paul smiled lightly. "Come on," he said, waiting for her to climb out the car.

After looking at Paul for a little while longer, Dawn stepped out of the car as he closed the door behind her.

Paul soon grabbed her hand and guided her to the cabin. Dawn was still looking at her surroundings as Paul guided her.

When they reached the front door of the cabin, Dawn watched as Paul grabbed his keys and inserted a small key into the door before opening it.

Paul pushed the door open as he stepped inside the cabin, Dawn following along behind. When he turned on the lights, Dawn couldn't help but stare at everything.

The living room was huge and it was only centered around a very majestic looking fireplace. There was a built in television on the wall above the fireplace. The ceiling, which made the living room look even more sophisticated, consisted with a beautiful candlelit chandelier lighting up the living room. Red couches were around the floor with a few brown and gold pillows nicely on top to decorate the couches, giving the room a more exotic look. Dawn was amazed by how big and beautiful everything was.

The kitchen was beautiful too, with rough-cut log walls, two-toned distress cabinetry, granite countertop bar pendant with black wooden swivel bar stools, and copper range hood combined with the wrought iron lighting and furnishings to create an elegant yet comfortable feel.

Paul was staring at Dawn as she kept staring at everything in the kitchen. He smiled slightly, hoping she'll feel better being here.

"Want to take a look at the rooms?" He asked her, waiting until she was ready.

After staring at the kitchen for a little while longer, she turned to look at Paul and nodded her head.

Paul began to guide her down the hall in between the living room and the kitchen. The cabin consisted with a total of 4 bedrooms, two downstairs and two upstairs, with two bathrooms (one being downstairs and one being upstairs).

Paul first guided her to the first room on the left which had a bed on the far right of the room, next to a window with white curtains that contained curtain holdbacks and another window right in front of the bed. The whole room was copper wooden.

Dawn stared at the room for a bit, not knowing what to say. Paul closed the door after showing her the room and started walking further down the hall, stopping on his right where the bathroom was.

The bathroom was pretty insane looking too. With copper wooden walls also, a wooden sink counter on the right and a toilet beside it with a wooden hood. The bathroom tub was round and curved like a skateboarding field, though the curve wasn't exactly like a skateboard field, it just mimicked a similar shape to it.

Dawn stared at the bathtub. She needed to take a nice bath too, so she can take her mind off of things.

Paul looked at her. "Do you like everything so far?"

Dawn looked up at him and nodded her head.

Paul closed the door and began to guide her farther down the hallway where there was another room.

This room looked pretty nice too. With a nice king size bed with beautiful red and white comforters, a red long pillow set nicely in front of four white and red pillows behind it. Two wooden dressers sat on each side of the bed with nice brown colored lamps. And a small window set bed with red and white pillows on the corners just beside the king-size bed, giving the room a more relaxing environment.

Paul was about to guide her upstairs to look at the rest of the rooms, but Dawn stopped him. He looked at her.

She stepped inside the room that he just showed her and she began to let her hand run down the soft comforter of the bed.

Paul watched as she did so, assuming that she might want to sleep in this room.

"How long are we staying?" She asked, her hand still running down the soft white comforter.

"It's up to you." Paul shoved his hand inside his pocket, leaning against the corner of the door entrance.

Dawn stared at the room for a little bit longer, not sure what she wanted to do. "… I want this room," she decided, turning to look at him.

Paul nodded. "Okay,"

Dawn returned her eyes onto the comforter, still letting her hand run down it. She began to look around the room again, thinking.

Paul stared at her for a moment and then shifted his body off the corner of the door entrance. "You should shower and change out of your dance clothes." He suggested.

Dawn didn't say anything, she just continued to look at the room in thought. Paul was wondering if she was still thinking about her dance audition and that would only explain everything.

He cleared his throat and slowly walked into the room before standing right beside her.

Dawn had tears flowing down her face as soon as he saw her and Paul frowned. He hated seeing her like this. It always made him feel like part of it was his fault.

Paul pulled his jacket off of her shoulders and pulled her closer to him. "Come on," he said lowly, beginning to guide her out of the room.

Dawn had her face in his chest as he slowly walked down the hall. Paul held her close to him and stopped in front of the bathroom, walking inside it.

Dawn had moved her face to see where they were, but she didn't say anything, she just looked around the bathroom, her mind not focused on her surroundings at all.

Paul let her sit down on top of the toilet with the lid covered.

"I'll be right back," he mumbled, turning away from her and walking out the bathroom and went back inside the room they were just in.

He was quick to find some clothes and a towel. He grabbed a large white t-shirt, which happened to be Reggie's, and he also found a pair of grey panties, which Paul assumed to be one of Reggie's ex-girlfriends. He also found female black boy shorts and he grabbed those too. From the looks of it, he believed Dawn would be able to fit into those shorts and panties.

Paul closed all the drawers he opened and walked out of the room and down the hall.

Dawn was still sitting on top of the toilet lid, her eyes on the floor and her hands in her lap.

Paul placed all of her clothes on top of the sink as soon as he entered and looked over at her. "I got your stuff, so you can shower now." He said as he looked at her, but she kept staring at the floor, not bothering to acknowledge his comment at all.

He stared at her for a while too, realizing that she wasn't even going to shower at all because of how depressed she was over that audition. He sighed, trying to think of a solution.

After thinking for a little while longer, he finally decided what he was going to do.

Paul closed the bathroom door, knowing that if he kept the door open she would've gotten cold as soon as she started bathing.

He turned the bath water on, making sure the water was hot enough for her to handle.

Paul had no other choice, he had to make her shower, which was honestly the only option in his eyes.

He turned to face her and got her to stand up on her feet. Dawn's tears had dried, but she still had a stressed look on her face. Paul wanted her to calm down though and forget about what happened that night.

Paul stood behind her as he began to unzip her black bodysuit, soon reaching the bottom.

Dawn had been calm as he did this. Paul knew he was about to see her naked for the first time ever, but he wasn't going to take advantage of that. She was hurting really bad that night and all he wanted was for her to do her daily routines, like shower. She also couldn't stay in that dance outfit for too long because she'll be even more depressed.

Her bodysuit fell from her shoulders to the ground. She was left in just white panties and beige stockings along with her beige dance shoes.

Paul looked at her bare back and then looked down at her feet. He got down on his knees and began to help her out of her dance shoes. Dawn rested her hand on his shoulder for support as he took off her shoes.

Paul got back up on his feet, beginning to pull down her beige stockings, getting down on his knees again. He pulled the stockings out of her feet and tossed it to the side. Now all that was left was her panties.

Paul looked up at her, her back still facing him. He felt really nervous all of a sudden because he has never seen her naked before. But then again they wasn't going to have sex, he wasn't undressing her for that. Plus he knew that she wasn't ready, so he wasn't even going to try anything. But he did feel sort of uncomfortable with the fact that this will be the first time seeing her naked.

Paul stared at the back of her legs for a bit and then looked up at her panties. She was standing there, her head down and not focused on anything that's going on at all. Paul did wonder if she had any idea that she was about to be naked in front of him for the first time in her life, but then again her mind was more focused on that dance audition to even care about it.

Paul licked his lips as he began to pull down her panties and took them off her feet. Her toe nails were painted in blue just like her fingernails.

Paul got back up on his feet, her back still facing him. She was completely naked, but Paul decided to be mature enough to not let that bother him too much.

He placed his hands on her hair and began to pull her hair gently out of the headband she had her hair tucked in. Dawn remained still as he began to undo her hair.

It wasn't until a moment later Paul got her hair out of the headband and took the headband off of her head, placing it down on the sink counter along with her dance clothes.

Paul swallowed nervously and urged her to turn around to face him. Once she did, that's when he finally got a good view of her. Paul found himself struggling to not stare, but he was beginning to feel really hot and very nervous. He looked for just a split second and instantly looked back at her face. The way she looked in the face almost made him forgot all about what he had just seen.

Dawn folded her arms over her chest as she looked down, her hair falling over her face.

Paul turned to the bathtub and turned the bathtub handle to hot, the water beginning to pour down roughly onto the tub. As he waited for the water to become a little more hot, Paul helped Dawn inside the tub, her back facing the pouring water. She sat down in the tub with her legs pressed up against her chest.

Paul grabbed the showerhead and pulled it down closer to her, switching the water to shower.

Dawn stared down at her legs as Paul brought the showerhead up over her head, the water pouring on her hair and drenching it, now making it stick onto her skin.

Paul grabbed the clear glycerin dove soap bar and began to rub it down her back and then down her arms as he kept the showerhead over her head. The water was running down her hair, her back and her arms.

The simple fact that she wasn't even saying a word bothered him. But he continued to bathe her. His hands now moving toward her legs, letting the soap run over her knees and feet, and even her thighs. He had the shower head run over her legs too.

Dawn let her head back as Paul began to let the soap rub over her breasts, but Paul stared at Dawn's face as he did this. Her eyes were closed and so was her mouth. Paul moved the soap bar and began to rub it on her stomach and then down to the area where he was so nervous to touch. All he was doing was taking her a bath.

Paul sighed and just rubbed the soap there, sure not to stay there for too long. After a couple of seconds, he moved the soap bar away from there and saw her open her eyes.

"Get up," he ordered, trying to relax.

Dawn slowly got up as Paul began to clean her butt with the soap bar, once again letting the soap run down her legs again. He urged her to sit down and then let the water run down her body, her legs pressed up against her chest again and her fists resting on her thighs.

Paul now grabbed the shampoo and conditioner bottles and began to put some shampoo on his hands, putting the bottles down. He began to massage the shampoo throughout Dawn's hair as Dawn closed her eyes, the only sound inside the bathroom being the shower running.

Dawn kept her eyes closed as Paul massaged her hair with shampoo, the rose blossom smell fulfilling his and her nostrils.

After massaging her hair well enough with shampoo, Paul passed the showerhead over her hair as the foamy shampoo began to slide from her hair, to the tub, and down the drain. The water felt really good. It was very warm and relaxing. She felt as if she was in a hot tub.

The water ran through her hair, cleaning out the remaining shampoo that was left in her hair.

After getting all that shampoo out, Paul poured some conditioner into his palm before rubbing his hands together and massaging it softly through her hair. Dawn still had her eyes closed as she felt Paul's hand movements on her hair. Just for that moment, she was beginning to forget about that day's events.

Paul cleaned his hands with the water and sat back, deciding to let the conditioner sit on her hair for about five minutes.

Paul really knew about hair care since he has long hair of his own and uses shampoo and conditioner. He always kept the conditioner in his hair for about five minutes before washing it out because he needed to keep natural oils in it. He would hate for his hair to look dry and very unhealthy looking.

Dawn realized that Paul had stopped and looked at him from the side, seeing as he stared at her. The two didn't say anything, they just continued to stare at one another for a bit.

Dawn licked her lips and turned her head forward again, letting her chin rest on her knees as she waited for Paul.

After a few minutes passed by, Paul grabbed the shower head and passed it over Dawn's hair, the conditioner now falling toward the drain. He drained out most of the conditioner on her hair, but he was sure to not wash out all of it. Paul placed the shower head back on its holder and turned off the shower, then grabbed Dawn's hair and squeezed it together, making sure to drain out the unnecessary water on her head.

He had two towels sitting next to him and he grabbed one small one and began to wrap it around Dawn's head, letting her hair dry down on the inside.

Paul let out a small sigh as he made her stand up and face him, receiving another full view of her naked body. He made sure not to look out of respect and grabbed another towel and wrapped it around her body.

Dawn took a seat at the edge of the tub, watching as Paul grabbed some clothes he got for her. The first thing he grabbed was a pair of grey panties and Dawn had found herself wondering whose panties were they, but she didn't bother asking. She was in no mood to be fighting with Paul over some stupid assumption.

Paul pressed her towel against her body and got down on his knees as he began to help her put on her panties. When he reached the top of her inner thighs, Dawn helped complete the rest of the process. Paul watched as she did so and grabbed the shorts he found, beginning to put it slowly on her. Dawn let him put it on her completely, now beginning to stand up.

She began to put her head down as Paul unwrapped her hair from that towel and tossed it to the side, her wet hair now falling to her shoulders.

Dawn stared up into Paul's eyes and he stared at hers. Paul kept his eyes on hers as he pulled the towel off of her and tossed it to the side. They stared at each other for a very long moment, and Paul felt his own heart beginning to pick up a bit, but Paul kept his eyes on her face, not daring to let it fall on her revealing breasts.

Clearing his throat, Paul brought the white t-shirt over her head and pulled it down, her head pushing out first before she finally found her arms and pushed them through the sleeves. The t-shirt passed over her shorts, almost enough to pass as a dress, that's how long the shirt was. It almost looked like she wasn't wearing anything else besides the shirt, but she was.

Paul licked his lips and cleared his throat once more. "All done," he breathed.

Dawn didn't say anything, she just looked at him and watched as he gathered her things together and put it on top of the counter sink.

He turned to her and slowly began to hoist her up into his arms bridal style, beginning to guide her out of the room and into the bedroom she wanted to stay in. Dawn had her head leaning on his shoulder, her wet hair beginning to wet his clothes, but he could really care less at the moment.

Paul opened the door to the room and slowly walked over to the beautiful bed before placing her softly along the bed. Dawn looked up at him as he stood up straight.

"You should get some rest," he suggested, not sure of what to say next.

Dawn remained quiet for a bit before speaking. "I really do need a nap."

Paul smiled a bit and nodded his head. "Then go to sleep." He turned his back to her and began to walk out of the room, making sure to look back at her once more.

Dawn laid on her side, grabbing her pillow as she began to get comfortable in bed.

Paul smiled slightly before closing the door.

* * *

Dawn moved her head slightly, seeing the room tinted black but with a little dark blue due to the light outside. She let out a soft yawn as she slowly sat up, her hair falling to her back before letting her arms stretch out a bit. Something smelled really good in the room and she was beginning to wonder where the aroma was coming from.

The smell that she had smelled previously became stronger and she slowly let her hand wander off toward a lamp and switched it on. At first, she was confused to see that she was in a different room, but then she soon realized that she was at the cabin Paul had took her to, and then remembered the events that happened earlier that day.

She shook her head and tried to push those thoughts to the back of her head. Dawn slowly got off the bed, placing her feet down on the floor before finding her way out of the room.

As she walked down the hallway, the aroma began to grow stronger and stronger with each step she took. What was Paul cooking? It smelled really good and plus Dawn was really hungry at the moment.

When she stepped into the kitchen, she saw Paul in front of the stove, a spatula in his right hand as he flipped over some lobster tails he had cooking in a large pan.

Dawn opened her mouth slightly. "Wow," she gasped, amazed with the sight she was seeing right now. He made a good dish of fresh alfredo noodles with grilled shrimp, chicken, and lobster. He also had two oval sized breads with butter beside them.

He already had both of their plates served nicely with the food and all, all he needed left was to add the lobster.

Paul turned his head to her and smiled lightly. "Hey," he said, now beginning to turn off the stove as he soon saw that the lobsters were done. "How'd you sleep?" He asked her, beginning to place one lobster on each of their plates.

Dawn took a seat on one of the bar stools and watched him. "I slept okay," she mumbled, watching him setting up their dinner plates. "That looks good Paul. And everything smells great. I can't wait to try it."

Paul smiled as he looked up at her. "My personal restaurant." He grabbed her plate and gave it to her along with a small glass of wine on the side. Dawn gladly took her plate and her drink in hand. "You didn't have to do this," she smiled.

"Well, you need to eat." He told her.

Paul turned his back to her and began to put all the dishes he used to make dinner into the sink, and also clean around the counter.

"Well, thank you." Dawn pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and let out a breath of air.

Paul turned on the sink and began to wash the dishes that he had dirtied, his back still facing Dawn.

Dawn grabbed the loaf of bread on her plate and began to position it in an angle so she can cut it into small sections.

There was some music playing in the background. Paul had a small music G zip speaker set up so that he could listen to music while it played from his phone.

"_If there's a question of my heart, you've got it. It don't belong to anyone but you. Aye, If there's a question of my love, you've got it. Baby don't worry, I've got plans for you. Yeah, baby I've been making plans."_

"Ow," Dawn hissed, dropping the knife from her hand.

Paul immediately turned around and saw that she had a small cut on the top of her left hand. He dropped the dishes he had in his hand and grabbed a rag to dry off his hands.

Dawn looked around the counter for a paper towel to clean up her wound.

"Don't touch it," Paul told her. She looked up at him and saw as he grabbed her hand and lifted it up to his lips.

Paul pressed his mouth against her open wound and sucked the blood up. Dawn blinked, sort of disturbed that he had sucked her wound clean with his mouth.

Paul dropped her arm back to her side and looked at her with a serious look. "Be careful with that knife."

He turned his back to her again as he returned to washing the dishes. Dawn licked her bottom lip as she stared at him from the back.

"Thank you." She mumbled, narrowing her eyes back down at her food.

Dawn pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear and grabbed her fork in hand. She grabbed some noodles and shrimp and placed it inside her mouth, beginning to chew.

Dawn smiled as she ate. He did a great job at cooking.

* * *

It was too quiet, way too quiet in the room.

Dawn opened her eyes and turned her head toward the window, the moonlight shinning inside the room.

She licked her lips and noticed that Paul wasn't even in the room. He never even came to the room since the other side of the bed hadn't been used.

She did mention that she was going to get some sleep and that he can come if he'd like. But she looked over at the time and saw that it was around 2 in the morning and Paul still hasn't come to bed.

Dawn sat up, her hair soon falling to her back.

Though her and Paul were technically broken up, she would have an understanding why he haven't come. But she still found it weird though. Paul brought her to his brother's cabin, and he was taking care of her this whole time so… why haven't he come to bed?

Dawn sighed and climbed off the bed, her long shirt Paul had gave her running over her short shorts and just above her knees.

She walked out of the room and walked slowly down the dark hallway, towards the living room.

Low music was playing in the room, so Paul must have been there.

"_We only like it if its lou-ou-ou-ou-oud. We only like it if its loud, if its loud. We only like it if its lou-ou-ou-ou-oud. We only life it if its loud, if its loud."_

Dawn stared into the living room and saw that Paul had been lying down on the couch, looking up at the ceiling and smoking a cigarette. The low music was coming from his G zip speaker and he had it on the coffee table beside the couch.

She folded her arms together and slowly walked towards him.

Paul had his eyes closed, placing the cigarette against his lips as he inhaled some smoke before exhaling it out in the air.

"Paul?" She whispered.

Paul opened his eyes, his eyes slowly turning to her.

"Aren't you gonna come to bed?"

"I'ma stay here." He placed the cigarette back up to his lips.

Dawn frowned slightly. "Why?"

Paul shrugged, inhaling smoke again before exhaling it into the air. "I don't want to be a bother."

"You won't."

Paul looked at her again and saw that she was now looking at him with a pleading look.

She stared at him that way for quite a while until Paul finally gave in.

He sighed, "I'll be there in a bit. Let me finish smoking first."

Dawn smiled, pleased with his answer. "Okay," she whispered, now brushing past him.

Paul licked his lips, hearing as Dawn's presence left back to the room.

He looked up at the ceiling again and pressed his cigarette back up to his lips.

"_Pockets on loud when I walk around, walk around. Yeah, they say we got the sound, got the sound. Yeah, never turn it down, turn it down."_

That day was filled with a lot of events. He was surprised himself that he even bothered going to her audition. He told himself he wasn't going to, but then again he couldn't just miss her big audition, especially since it meant so much to her.

Paul closed his eyes for just a brief moment.

It still pained him whenever he looked at Dawn. All he kept picturing is her looking at him like he is Ash. Ash always found a way to keep her happy, unlike him.

Paul opened his eyes, trying not to think of the negative. So far, things have been going good again without Ash coming in between them, especially during that day.

"_We only like it if its lou-ou-ou-ou-oud. We only like it if its loud, if its loud. We always find a way to turn it up again, never turn it down."_

He brought his cigarette back up to his lips and inhaled the smoke before exhaling it out into the air.

Although he has broken up with her, he can still easily change that. Dawn is his girl, no one else's. She's the only girl that made him feel whole and just the simple fact of losing her bothered him completely. No, he wasn't going to lose her over that basketball player. There's no way in hell.

He began to sit up straight and grabbed his G zip speaker.

Paul once again pushed those negative thoughts to the back of his head and turned off the music he had been playing.

He placed his cigarette in the corner of the cigarette plate that was sitting on the coffee table, putting out the fire. Paul dropped the cigarette from his hands into the plate and began to leave the living room, starting to head toward the bedroom where Dawn had been in.

Dawn seemed like she really wanted Paul to come to bed, but what for?

Paul licked his lips and walked into the room, expecting to see Dawn lying on the bed, but she wasn't there.

"_It's what you do, it's what you see. I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me…"_

He heard the door close behind him and he turned around briefly.

Dawn was leaning her back against the door, her arms at her side. She stared at Paul.

Paul raised his eyebrow, wondering why she was just staring at him and not saying a word.

She took a step forward and walked slowly up to him. The room was dark and the only light shining in the room was the moonlight from the window.

"_It's where we go… It's where we'll be… I know if I'm onto you, I'm onto you, onto you, you must be onto me…"_

He stared down at her while she stared straight at his chest. He felt her left hand rest at the bottom of his shirt as she began to pull it up slowly.

Paul kept his eyes steady on her and before she could even try and take off his shirt, he immediately grabbed her wrist with his right hand. Dawn's eyes instantly locked on his face.

"_My haunted lungs, ghost in the sheets. I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me."_

Paul had stared at her for a while, his face dangerously close to hers. Dawn still was caught in his grip, but he had slowly pushed her back toward the room doorway, his hand still gripping her wrist, holding her arm up near her face.

"_My wicked tongue, where will it be? I know if I'm onto you, I'm onto you, onto you, I'm onto you, onto you, you must be onto me."_

Paul slowly brought her arm back down to her side, releasing his grip from her wrist.

Dawn could smell the smoke from his breath, and she bit down on her bottom lip.

Paul caught a quick glance of that lip bite and slowly let his thumb brush under her lip.

"_You want me? I walk down the hallway."_

Paul then moved his hand slowly down her shoulder, to her arm.

"_You're lucky! The bedroom's my runway."_

Goosebumps began to form throughout her whole body. Dawn breathed lowly, a sound that was enough to turn him on.

"_Slap me! I'm pinned to the doorway."_

Paul licked his lips slowly, his hand stopping near her legs.

"_Kiss, bite… Fuck me."_

Paul instantly grabbed her and pulled her up against him, her legs hooking around his waist and her arms hooking around his neck.

"_My haunted lungs, ghost in the sheets. I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me."_

His lips locked on hers as they kissed passionately. Dawn had her fingers buried in his hair as she pulled his face closer to hers.

Paul turned toward the bed with her around him as he then dropped her body on the bed, her lips removing from his and his body. He stood standing at the edge of the bed as he looked down at her.

Dawn had let out a heavy breath of air as she looked at Paul from her far end, seeing as he began to unbuckle his belt.

She licked her lips slowly as she slowly sat up on the bed, watching as he pulled off his shirt and tossing it to the floor, his lavender colored hair falling back down on the sides of his face and over his forehead.

Paul moved down towards her level, placing the both of his hands down near each side of her body, his arms straight out and his eyes on her face.

"_My wicked tongue… where will it be? I know if I'm onto you, you must be onto me."_

Dawn felt a chill run down her spine with each of his arms next to both sides of her body, though he did have his hands pressed onto the bed, but he still had her trapped in between him and with nowhere to go. Not that she wanted to go anywhere, he was just so intimidating at the moment.

He also had some nice tattoos along his arms and the upper part of his chest. Dawn couldn't seem to take her eyes off of his exotic tattoos. It looked really attractive in her eyes.

Paul opened his mouth to speak. "I'll do whatever you want. Just tell me what to do."

Dawn stared into his eyes before answering. "Just make love to me." She begged, now beginning to lift her shirt over her head and tossing it on the bed.

Paul still had his hands pressed on the bed at both of her sides as she did this and he licked his lips when he saw that she was wearing no bra, but only panties. He had forgotten that he had dressed her without a bra from earlier. Paul did his best to control himself and keep his eyes on just her face.

When she raised her hand and placed it on his left cheek, he leaned in to kiss her and began to hover over her as he continued to kiss her passionately.

"_It's what we see… I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me."_

Paul began to kiss down her neck as he began trailing kisses in between her breasts and down her stomach. He moved his arm underneath her left leg and pulled it up against his waist as he began to slowly trail kisses up her stomach slowly.

"_It's where we go… It's where we'll be… I know if I'm onto you, I'm onto you, onto you, I'm onto you, onto you, you must be onto me."_

Dawn began to move her hands down his back and at his pants as she tried to pull it down.

Paul lifted his body up a little so he could help her pull his pants down.

"_You must be onto me…"_

Dawn looked up at Paul when she felt his length against her sensitive area.

"_You must be onto me…"_

Paul stared down at her. "Are you sure?" He asked her.

Dawn nodded her head. "It's okay."

"_You must be onto me…"_

Paul stared into her eyes, knowing how badly she wanted this, but he was so horny that he wasn't so sure of how he could be able to control himself. But then again it was Dawn's first time and he didn't want to hurt her.

"_Me…"_

Paul grabbed his length and placed himself slowly into her. Dawn winced a bit and Paul placed both of his arms down on the bed on each side of her as he held himself up above her.

"_Me.."_

Paul looked at her worriedly. He wanted her first time to be perfect and he didn't want to see pain in her eyes, though he knew that usually when a girl is a virgin, they feel pain the first time.

Just as expected, she made a face and Paul could feel something warm and wet wrapping around his shaft. He pulled out slightly and checked it out, noticing there was some blood on him and he looked at her again with a worried look.

"I'm okay," she whispered. "Just keep going."

Paul kept his eyes on her, not sure if he should continue doing this with her. Yes, he wanted to do this with her and for her to enjoy her first time, but he just didn't like the fact that he made her bleed. He never had sex with a virgin before, so he had no idea what he was in for. But one thing for sure, seeing her blood on him really made him scared.

"Paul," she whispered.

He looked her in the eyes again.

"My hymen just broke, that's all..."

To him, it still sounded bad in his ears.

"Don't worry about it." She whispered again. "I want to do this with you... I love you..."

Paul stared into her eyes and just by listening to those words, he truly believed that she really did love him.

"_Me-e-eeeee."_

"Put it back in me," she ordered.

Paul stared at her for a little longer and then slowly pushed himself back into her. He kept his eyes on her face though as he slowly inserted himself in her. She kept a straight face, but he knew she must have been feeling some sort of pain.

"I don't want to hurt you," he mumbled, looking down at her.

She smiled softly at him. "No need to worry. Just start moving Paul."

Paul smiled at her too and slowly began to do what he was told.

Paul began to move slowly into her, Dawn kept looking at him. She was feeling pain yes, but she was starting to let her body re-adjust to this feeling. And then after a while, she closed her eyes and moaned lightly.

"_Me…"_

Paul continued to thrust himself into her, looking down at her. "Are you okay?" He asked her lowly, his face a bit close to hers.

Dawn answered in a moan and he assumed that she must have been okay now since she was moaning. Paul licked his lips, moving his lips down to hers as he bit down on her bottom lip, continuing to move slowly into her.

"_What goes up…"_

"Move faster," she whispered against his lips. She felt his hot breath passing over her mouth and Paul began to move a little faster when he felt her nails digging into his back.

"_Ghost around…"_

"I love you," he whispered against her lips.

Dawn moaned lightly against his lips, pulling him closer to her.

"_Ghost around, around, around."_

Paul moved his lips to her neck.

"_What goes up.."_

Dawn moved her hand up to his hair.

"_Ghost around…"_

Paul moved a little faster into her, but in a steady and easy pace.

"_Ghost around, around, around…"_

After a while, Paul began to slow down after the both of them reached their climax.

Paul lifted his head from her neck to look at her. Dawn opened her eyes, letting out a heavy breath as she looked up at him.

"_I know if I'm haunting you, you must be haunting me…"_

The two remained staring at each other without saying a word, the only sound in the air being their heavy breathing.

* * *

**A/N: This is honestly one of the longest chapters I have posted for this story so far haha. **

**I hoped you guys liked Dawn and Paul's first time at sex. It's about time they finally did it lmaoo.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Matrimony by Wale ft. Usher, Loud by T. Mills, Haunted/Ghost by Beyonce**

**I also just had to use that Fifty Shades of Grey music, I felt Beyonce's song fitted best for their first time at making love lmao.**

**Anyway, Review and let me know your thoughts!**


	11. Amber

**A/N: Happy 4****th**** of July!**

_**Amber **_**symbolizes disoriented thoughts, concerned feelings, nervousness, and mixed emotions.**

* * *

The basketball hit the side of the basket, but didn't go in.

Ash sighed, running his hand up his sweaty hair as he watched the ball fall to the floor.

It was currently 8 in the morning and usually he gets up this early to go and practice with Gary cause that was always their daily routine on the weekends.

"You alright man?"

Ash looked over at Gary, his mind elsewhere and not really focused on what he was doing at the moment.

"Yeah," he said, though it was most definitely a lie.

The truth was, he wasn't alright. He was still thinking about what had happened with Giselle. She tried to leave out of his life for good and he wasn't really comfortable with that. And the fact that she tried to have sex with him again and wouldn't even listen to what he had to say after he had stopped her, really frustrated him.

"Ash?"

Ash looked at Gary again, realizing that he had drifted off into his thoughts again. "What?" He said.

"What's up with you?" Gary asked, walking up to his friend. He was equally as sweaty as Ash was.

"Nothing," Ash shook his head and grabbed the ball from Gary's hands and brushed past him.

Gary turned around briefly to look at Ash and saw that he was now dribbling the ball in place, his attention on the basket.

Ash rose his arms up above his head and threw the ball into the air, aiming it at the basket. The both of them watched as the ball aimed toward the basket, but it had missed and hit the headboard instead.

Ash stared hard at the scene and heard Gary groan lowly from under his breath.

He watched as Gary went to go get the ball and saw that he came back up to him.

"Okay, what the hell is going on with you? You've been missing shots this whole time. You _never _miss shots." Gary told him, a hint of attitude in his voice.

"Nobody's perfect," Ash mumbled, a bit irritated that Gary was even getting mad at him.

Gary hardened his eyes on Ash. "I never said anyone was." He pointed out.

Ash let out a sigh and looked away from Gary.

"You know, I don't know if you realize this, but you've been changing a lot, especially with the team." Gary said with an attitude.

Ash slowly turned his attention back to Gary.

"I don't like it one bit." He spat. "Ever since that hoe came into your life, you've been acting like a brand new person—"

"She's not a hoe." Ash shot back, anger now forming inside of him.

Gary raised his eyebrow. "So you're gonna pick her over the team?"

Ash continued to look at him hard.

"Ever since she came into your life, you rarely have time for the team, Ash." Gary shouted. "That girl told you herself that she doesn't entertain romance so why do you keep fighting it?" Gary continued in a loud tone. "I know you, Ash. I've known you ever since I was a freaking kid and you really think that I'm going to let my best friend stress himself out over a girl that isn't even worth it? Come on now."

"You don't understand…" Ash mumbled, looking away from his face again.

"I don't understand?" Gary laughed at that comment. "Actually, you don't. You're so god damn naïve that you don't even realize that she's playing you."

"I know what she's doing." Ash argued. "And I don't care,"

"You should." Gary told him. "She's a hoe."

"No she's not." Ash spat, looking at Gary again.

"Yes she is, Ash. A hoe is when a woman has mindless sex with anything that has two legs and doesn't want any romantic commitment. That's a hoe." Gary pointed out.

Ash's left fist clenched tightly. Gary quickly noticed it and he raised his eyebrow at Ash. "What, so you're gonna hit me now Ash?"

Ash wanted to punch Gary so bad, but something told him not to do it, he just glared hard at Gary. He didn't appreciate the fact that he was even calling her a hoe. He knew that she acts just like one, but he just didn't like to hear the actual word itself, it really bothered him.

"That's what I thought," Gary scoffed, shaking his head. He lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at Ash's face. "You better figure out who you're riding for." Gary dropped his hand and slammed the basketball in Ash's chest so that he can take it instantly and walked off.

Ash watched as Gary left him there at the court and with no one else at the park.

He grabbed the ball tightly in his hand and threw it hard at the nearest fence in frustration.

The fact that Giselle was having a huge impact on his life really annoyed the hell out of him. He didn't understand why he cared for someone like her and he also didn't understand why he couldn't get her out of his head. It just didn't make any sense at all.

The last girl he cared a lot for was Misty, she was the only girl he really cared about. She was the complete opposite from Giselle. Yeah, Misty was always the kind of girl to beat his ass whenever she wanted to, but she was also one of the only girls that really, truly cared about him for him. Giselle was completely different. She didn't care at all for him, and yeah it bothered him because he really likes her. Misty isn't around anymore and he's forcing himself to move on just because she isn't around. Ash didn't understand his feelings, he wasn't sure if he looked at Giselle as a rebound or just another girl he really likes. He honestly knew nothing about her.

Ash watched as the ball fell to the floor, bouncing until it had stopped.

Ever since she came into his life, everything had changed and Gary was most definitely right.

* * *

"_Oooooooooh, oooh."_

Paul moved his head slightly, his eyes still closed.

"_Oooooooh, oooh.."_

Paul opened his eyes slightly.

"_Oooooooh, oooooh."_

He furrowed his eyebrows together as he turned his head, only to find that Dawn hadn't been in bed.

"_Ooooooh, ooh…"_

Paul looked at the window and saw that it was now morning.

"_I would tell you that I love you tonight."_

Dawn stood in the living room, dancing slowly with the music she had been playing.

"_But I know that I've got time on my side."_

She had been dancing all morning, practicing nonstop. Ever since those judges gave her poor feedback, she felt the need to work harder.

"_Young man, if she were good enough, she wouldn't need a partner to help her. That shows a lot on her part." The man judge said._

"_Where ya goin? Why ya leavin' so soon?"_

That man was right. If she were good enough, she wouldn't need a partner. And because of that simple fact, she felt the need to give herself a push and try this on her.

Dawn could feel tears form in her eyes but she closed her eyes shut as she slowly dropped down to the floor and created a split.

"_Is there somewhere else that's better for you?"_

Paul walked into the living room and spotted Dawn dancing as if no one were watching her.

"_What is love? If you're not here with me."_

He watched her intensely as she danced slowly but also in a very smooth and relaxing way.

"_What is love? If it's not guaranteed."_

Just like how he taught her. All she had to do was dance like no one was watching her and she would do great.

"_What is love? If it just ups and leaves?"_

Paul cleared his throat and Dawn had instantly turned her attention to a shirtless Paul.

"Oh," she said in surprise, cutting off the music she was playing. She looked at him with an innocent look and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was um…"

"It's fine," he told her.

Dawn nodded simply as she awkwardly grabbed her phone and pulled it out of his G zip speaker. She had instantly remembered what had happened the night before with her and Paul and she wasn't so sure of how to act around him.

Of course she had a wonderful time with him last night, but she just wasn't so sure of how to react afterwards.

Dawn walked up to him and he had been staring at her which really made her nervous. Before Dawn can even walk past him, she mumbled, "You should really put a shirt on."

Paul raised his eyebrow as she brushed past him and left back to the room. He licked his lips and smirked.

"Where ya going?" He turned around briefly as he followed her to the room.

"Going to shower," she said loudly as she searched for a shirt in a drawer for some clothing she can wear herself.

"Can I join?"

Dawn whipped her head towards him.

Paul was leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face.

A small blush instantly formed on her face. Her showering with Paul? That would be so hot, but she wasn't so sure if she was comfortable to do things like that with him yet. She instantly remembered last night and what they did. Oh how she loved that moment with him.

She quickly found herself some clothes and also found a shirt for Paul. She closed the drawer and walked up to him, throwing a shirt at his face as he instantly caught it in his hands. "Put it on," she ordered, beginning to brush past him.

Paul had his mouth open at that moment and he turned briefly to see that she had now left inside the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

He chuckled lightly. She was obviously nervous around him and he loved every bit of it.

* * *

Ash groaned when he saw the basketball hit just the corner of the basket and falling straight to the ground.

Giselle was driving him insane. He couldn't even do what he was great at just because of her, a girl he rarely understood. Ash had no idea why he cares so much about her, especially since he doesn't know her well. All he knew is that she avoids relationships and refuses to be involved in anything that seems romantic to her. That's something he didn't get. Every girl loves romance, how come she doesn't want romance? It just didn't make any sense.

Ash shook his head and grabbed the ball that was on the floor. He inhaled a deep breath and stared hard at the basket, trying to put his full attention on just the basket.

As he raised his arms high above his head and threw the basketball at the net, it decided to hit just the edge of it and dropped back down to the floor. Ash groaned again, becoming really frustrated. Is Giselle really that much of a distraction for him? In his mind, he believed that she could be.

"Ash," a female voice called.

Ash turned his head around toward the voice that was calling for him and saw that it had been Leaf. What was she doing here?

Leaf fixed her hat on her head and slowly walked over to him. "I need to show you something."

He raised his eyebrow as she brushed past him and grabbed his basketball from the floor. Ash watched as she walked back over to him. "Come on," she insisted as she brushed past him once more, expecting for him to follow along.

Ash ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he quickly grabbed his bottle of water and rag from one of the benches before following behind her.

"Where are you taking me?" He raised his eyebrow as the two walked on a sidewalk.

"I just need to show you something," she murmured, still walking ahead of him and beginning to walk across the street to another sidewalk.

Ash brought his rag up to his forehead as he wiped off the sweat that was forming. He decided to not question Leaf any further and just followed her to wherever it was that she wanted him to see.

He was starting to become a bit curious as they walked past a few blocks down from the park where the basketball court was. When they stopped in front of a unique bar a few moments later, he raised his eyebrow.

Ash looked over at Leaf who had been staring through the window and looking inside of the bar. "Why are we at a bar?" He asked, confused.

Leaf sighed as she turned to look at him, folding her arms beneath her chest. "Look inside."

Ash stared at her for a moment and took a step forward toward the window and took a brief look inside the bar. He was curious to know what exactly was it that Leaf wanted him to see.

He only saw a few people drinking at the tables, a couple guys playing pool, a few people dancing, and one or two people sitting at the bar counter on the stools. He became instantly confused, not understanding what Leaf wanted him to see. Ash looked at the bar counter again and instantly saw that familiar shade of brown hair. It was Giselle.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows as he took a closer look at the scene, seeing as she gave the bartender her money. He saw as she grabbed a bottle of beer and dropped her head back and chugged down a lot of it. As soon as she retreated her lips from the bottle, she immediately grabbed the bartender's face and began making out with him.

Ash was in shock, not expecting for Giselle to do something like that. He knew that she has a wild personality, but he never imagined that she would do something like that.

He pulled back from the window and looked over at Leaf. She noticed that somewhat hurt look present on his face and frowned. "Come on," she murmured as she urged him to walk with her somewhere else.

As Ash walked with her, he was just thinking about what he had just witnessed. He didn't understand why Giselle is the way she is and why she is acting that way. Why doesn't she want a relationship? Why does she hate romance so much? Why is she making out with random guys if she doesn't want a relationship? And most of all, why does she want just mindless sex and nothing else?

This all reminded him of that damn novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.

"How do you know her?" He let out. He was confused and he knew that Giselle was hiding something about herself, but he had no idea what it was. Also, why did Leaf want to show him what Giselle was up to? Let alone, how did Leaf know Giselle? He did remember Leaf telling him that she knew Giselle, but that wasn't enough. He needed to know more.

Leaf was quiet for a while as she walked slowly down the sidewalk with Ash. Ash continued looking at her, waiting for her response.

"… Well, believe it or not, she used to be my best friend." She said, sounding sad in the voice.

Ash blinked, surprised. "She was your best friend?"

"Yeah…" Leaf trailed off.

"Well, what happened? I never seen you guys talk to each other before."

Leaf sighed as she looked forward, continuing to walk. "That's because we stopped being friends after she changed into this… _wild _person."

Ash furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion. What could possibly be so bad to change Giselle into the person she is today?

"What happened to her?" He asked, impatient. He just wanted to know why she's the way she is and since Leaf knew her way before him, especially since Giselle had been her best friend, she must know everything about her.

"There was this guy she met a long time ago." She started, "We were just freshman at the time and he was a sophomore. You could say that he was really popular since he did attract many girls, including Giselle. And he hanged out with four other guys which was also popular." Leaf stopped her sentence and took a seat on a bench she had found in front of one of the stores as Ash sat beside her. "Well, his name is Silas, and there's one thing that I will never forget about him. He really knows how to act, and when I mean he knows, I mean he _knows. _He knew how to play with many girls minds, but he really knew how to play with Giselle's mind."

Ash started narrowing his eyes toward the floor as he listened, not sure of what to say.

"Silas was gorgeous, no doubt." She continued. "He had the whole package, long navy blue hair and blue eyes along with an eye catching six pack. He was just the best looking guy in school at the time." Leaf pulled out her phone as she began scrolling through Instagram to find a picture of him.

A guy with long navy blue hair and blue eyes… Ash remembered a guy named Silas with that same color hair and eyes.

No, it couldn't be him. There's no way.

After finding a good picture of him, she showed it to Ash.

Ash took a good look at the photo. It was him. "That's the guy that was captain of the basketball team last year and let me take over after he graduated."

Leaf nodded her head. "Yeah, he most certainly was the best basketball player, but he will always be an asshole."

"What did he do?" Ash wondered. Silas was the person Ash looked up to the most when it came to basketball. He was always such a great player and Ash always dreamed of being a great captain just like he did. But he also knew that Silas could be an asshole at times with girls.

Leaf sighed and then continued to speak, "He just ruined everything… Silas was really attracted to Giselle's physical appearance and that was it, while Giselle was attracted to more than just his looks. She fell into his trap, that trap he creates when it comes to girls."

"Well he was always a player, there's nothing surprising about that." Ash mumbled, remembering how Silas was.

"Yeah, but… this is different."

Ash looked at her.

"He always said all the right things and did all the right things. Giselle was in love with him, she even gave up her virginity to him. But of course, after he took her virginity, he started to take advantage of her."

Ash's face began to change. "She lost her virginity to him?" he asked her, sounding disappointed.

Leaf looked at him and nodded her head. "Yeah, which I personally believe was the dumbest idea."

Ash shook his head as he placed his elbows on his thighs and placed his head into his hands in frustration.

"He kept asking her for nudes whenever he got horny and of course she sent him nudes, being the naïve girl she was. But then again I couldn't blame her because I know how it feels to be in love with someone and she was just doing that out of love for him."

Ash breathed angrily from his nose and Leaf could tell that he was beginning to get upset, but he wanted to know the truth and she also felt that he needed to know the truth, especially since she could tell that he cared a lot about Giselle. She also felt that maybe, just maybe he can save her.

"I'm sorry Ash," she frowned, looking at him. "There's more to the story, but—"

"No, it's okay, you can continue." Ash told her, keeping his head in his hands as he struggled to keep calm.

Leaf stared at him in worry, but she let out a soft sigh and continued. "Well… after that happened, one day I saw him cheating on her with some cheerleader. And of course, Giselle was also a cheerleader at the time, but when I saw him cheating, I instantly told Giselle because she was my best friend and it really pissed me off when I saw him cheating."

Ash left one hand on his head and dropped the other toward his lap in anger as it clenched tightly. Leaf noticed from the corner of her eye, but she didn't bother acknowledging it. "Giselle was hurt and angry to find out that he had been cheating that she decided to ignore him a bit. But then this one night came, and she told me everything. He asked her for nudes again over a text and she refused to give him anymore nudes because she believed all he wanted from her was sex. So Giselle got mad and called him out on it, but she also made him mad which caused him to do something so horrible."

"And what was that?" Ash said, his head now facing her, an angry look on his face. He wasn't even so sure if he was ready to hear what exactly Silas did, but he knew Silas must have done something horribly wrong to make Giselle into the person she is today.

"Silas posted every nude she sent him all over Instagram that night and she called me panic, crying and everything—"

"He what!?" Ash got up, surprised with what he was hearing.

"It was really heartbreaking," Leaf frowned a bit as she remembered that night when Giselle called her. "She received so many friend requests from horny guys, dirty comments, rude comments from a lot of people, and those pictures kept getting posted over and over by a lot of people. Ever since Silas did that, her whole life changed for the worst."

Ash's fist was clenched so tightly. Silas did _that _to Giselle? And to think that he even looked up to a guy like him. Ash felt so betrayed and upset that Silas did such a thing. What type of person does that? He knew that Silas was a jerk towards girls, but doing something like that? That is just awful. That is just down right wrong.

Ash looked over at Leaf and noticed that she was about to cry. He tried to calm himself down as best as he could and took a seat next to her.

"It just really hurt me, Ash. She was going through so much pain and there was nothing I could do about it. Ever since those pictures had been posted, many girls and guys called her a whore, a slut, a skank—anything that sounded so horrible. Giselle couldn't even be herself at school without people staring at her with weird looks." Leaf felt a tear roll down her face as she wiped that tear. "Many guys started to be very disrespectful towards her. They would talk very dirty to her and touch her in places she didn't even want to be touched. She cried to me all the time. Every day something like that happened—even girls harassed her with harsh words, drawings and anything cruel."

"And Silas did that to her?" Ash couldn't even begin to think. He just knew that if he saw Silas face again, he was sure to have his face rearranged. This was one of the first times Ash ever felt so violent. And he _never _considers himself as a violent person.

Leaf nodded her head. "That continued for a while until Giselle came to school one day and decided to change her whole look and everything. She started to wear her hair sexier along with her make-up and she even began to wear sexier clothing. I guess that she got so tired of being attacked every day that she started to believe that she really was a whore, like how everyone made her seem…"

"She started to acknowledge all of the guys and flirt with them, and whenever she was around me, it was like she changed into a whole different person. She wasn't sad around me anymore, she was really… different." Leaf looked at Ash who was looking at her with a face she couldn't exactly analyze. Leaf knew that Ash was shocked to hear something like that about her, but he really needed to know the truth, especially since Giselle was her best friend.

Ash was quiet for a moment. "… Why did you guys stop being friends?"

"Well there was this one night we was at a club and some random guys we didn't even know invited her somewhere outside of the bar, so of course I felt like it was a bad idea because in my eyes, it looked like they were planning to take her somewhere and rape her and I didn't want that to happen. Giselle agreed to go, but I tried so desperately to change her mind and she didn't want to listen to me. Since that night, she broke off the friendship because she felt like I was trying to change her back to the person she used to be." Leaf frowned. "And it just pained me completely to see her walk away with those guys. Ever since, all she does is sleep around with guys and I hate it so much because I feel like it's all Silas' fault. If only he hadn't posted those pictures, then maybe she wouldn't be that kind of person."

Ash was angry, very angry and disappointed in Silas. Just finding out that he had did something so cruel to Giselle, Ash couldn't even look at him the same way anymore. Silas broke Giselle completely and Ash will never forgive him for that. If one day Ash sees Silas again, he was sure to make that day Silas' worst. Silas will pay.

"I'm so sorry Leaf," He managed to say, holding his anger as best as he could.

"I'm fine," she breathed a sigh, now turning her head to look at Ash. "I can tell you really care about her, Ash, so I want you to do me a favor and please change her back to the way she was. I know she's not ready for a relationship, I just know it, so don't force her into one."

Ash blinked, not sure of what to say to that.

"She really needs a friend. That's all she really needs." Leaf licked her lips slowly and then looked down at her lap.

Ash was still in shock about the news he had heard, not sure of what to say to Leaf. Everything did make since for why Giselle is the way she is, but he also felt very bad for her, knowing that she went through that much pain and let all those people get to her. It really bothered him.

"Alright," he said finally, patting Leaf's shoulder.

* * *

"_Leave me, lying here. Cause I don't wanna go."_

Dawn leaned against Paul's car, her butt pressing on the hood of the front of the car. Paul had been currently at the driver's seat, getting things situated since he was about to let her finally drive his car.

After getting things situated, he walked over to her and saw she had been staring at him with a very cocky look. He raised his eyebrow. "What?"

Dawn just smiled as she leaned against his car. She was currently wearing his leather jacket over a white tank top with black shorts and some black flip flops. She had her hair pulled up into a messy pony tail, but she also had a pair of shades at the top of her head.

Paul was just wearing some black sweatpants and a black T-shirt along with his red and black bred 11's. He always worn black and other dark colors, but his personal favorite was black because to him it suited him best.

Dawn stared at him with an innocent look, all Paul could see was her natural make-up over her eyes with some eyeliner and mascara. He grunted. Dawn grinned. "You're finally gonna teach me how to drive huh?"

Paul took a step closer to her, her knees touching his jeans and her upper chest almost touching his chest. Dawn made sure to keep her eyes on his face though. "I'm calling the cops on your ass if you try something stupid." He threatened.

"Yeah right," Dawn giggled, and licked her lips. "Do you have gum?"

Paul shoved one hand in his pocket and pulled out a strip of gum. As soon as he got the gum out of the wrapper, he brought it up to her mouth and let it fall inside as she began chewing it. Dawn smiled in satisfaction.

Paul rolled his eyes as he walked towards the passenger's door while Dawn went the other way towards the driver's door. They both got inside the car in unison, their door closing at the exact same time.

"_Tell me, tell me what you really want from me. You gotta let me know."_

Dawn let out a light sigh, her attention quickly going onto the rearview mirror. She pulled the mirror down a bit and she began messing with her bangs, trying to straighten them out while chewing gum at the same time.

Paul just stared at her with a bored look. Of course, that _would_ be the first thing she does.

After fumbling with her hair, she turned her head toward Paul only to see him looking at her with a plain look.

"We aren't going to a Beauty Pageant." He mumbled.

"I know," she said, turning her head toward the front window as she put both of her hands on the wheel, continuing to chew her gum. "But you know, I like to look my best when I go out."

"You always look your best."

Dawn turned her head toward Paul and saw that he had been serious with that statement.

"You don't have to impress me all the time. You're perfect just the way you are."

Dawn blushed, "Thanks Paul."

Paul smiled and Dawn leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. He acknowledged that kiss and then pressed his back onto the back of his seat while Dawn turned her body back to front of the car, placing her hands on the wheel again and continuing to chew her gum.

"_Volcano Girls, we really can't be beat."_

"I can't wait to start driving this thing," she mumbled, getting comfortable in her seat as her hands squeezed the wheel slightly.

"Don't get too cocky," he ordered.

Dawn looked at him and raised her eyebrow, still chewing her gum.

"I just got this car and knowing you, you might destroy her."

"Having doubts huh?" She asked with her eyebrows raised.

Paul just gave her a serious look and Dawn laughed. "Relax, I'm not gonna hurt her."

"Cookie is sensitive." Paul told her.

Dawn laughed again, still surprised by the simple fact that he even named his car that. "Cookie isn't going to be attacked by the Cookie Monster, so relax." Dawn turned the keys from the key slot and started the car.

Paul had his eyes on what she had been doing, studying everything she was doing. "Make sure you don't press the gas too hard. The slower you are, the less chances you have at getting into an accident."

Dawn turned her head towards him. Paul stared back at her, seeing as she gave him a blank look.

"I just don't want you to get hurt." He added.

Dawn rolled her eyes as she grabbed her glasses shades from the top of her head and pulled it down, the black lenses now covering over her eyes. "There's no need to worry." She said finally, turning her head back to the front.

Paul kept his stare on her before reverting his attention back on the steps. "Alright, put your foot on the brake and put it in drive."

Dawn did as she was told, getting a bit more excited as she saw the view in front of her a bit darker since she was wearing shades.

"Check your blind spots and then _gently _hit the gas." Paul told her.

Dawn looked at the blind spot mirrors and then pressed her foot on the gas as she began moving the car.

"_Leave me, lying here. Cause I don't wanna go."_

Paul moved his eyes toward the front window and also all the other windows to make sure she was doing it right.

After driving out of the woods where the cabin was at, Paul was starting to wonder if Dawn didn't really need driving lessons after all.

Paul turned his head to her when they were on the highway.

Dawn kept her eyes concentrated on the road, beginning to blow a huge bubble from the gum she was chewing before it popped completely.

"You don't need driving lessons, do you?" He asked her.

Dawn smirked, exchanging a look at him and then at the road. "No." She answered. "I've known how to drive this whole time, I got my permit a long time ago." She laughed.

Paul rolled his eyes, already becoming slightly annoyed. He was surprised she even knew how to drive, but he was also surprised that she actually tricked him into thinking that she couldn't.

"Wanna see something cool?" She mumbled, looking over at him and then back toward the front of the window.

Paul kept his eyes towards the front of the window and on the car currently in front of them. He leaned his back against the seat. "Sure, why not." He mumbled.

Dawn smirked. "Hold on tight…" She warned him, her hands gripping the wheel tightly.

Paul's eyes instantly widened when he heard those words.

"_I'm falling off, I am watered down and fully grown."_

Dawn had pressed her foot more on the gas which increase the speed level on the car.

She turned the car sharply to the right, making sure not to hit the car that was just in front of them.

Paul whipped his head towards her. "Dawn, _what the fuck!?_" He shouted.

She was driving awfully fast in a way he wasn't comfortable with. It was as if she was racing or some sort, but Paul didn't like it at all. Dawn driving _his _car that fast? How about _fuck_ no.

Dawn giggled. "Relax Paul, there's no need to worry."

"Yeah and every time you say that bullshit something bad always happens." He scowled.

Dawn rolled her eyes though Paul couldn't really see it since she did have on sun glasses.

Paul turned his attention onto the window, making sure she wouldn't hit anything.

Dawn chewed on her gum even more before blowing another bubble. As she was blowing another bubble, she pressed her foot even more on the gas, increasing the speed level. She made a sharp turn to the left, dodging one car and made another sharp turn to the right, dodging another car.

"This isn't fast and the furious." Paul pointed out, his heart beginning to race. For the first time in his life, he felt scared. And Paul was never scared of anything.

The bubble Dawn created soon popped as soon as Paul said those words, her attention still focused on the road. "I don't care," she mumbled as she tailed behind a large truck.

"_I told you about the Seether before. You know that one that's neither or nor."_

Paul eyed her, wondering what she was about to do.

Dawn drove steadily behind the large truck until she had been on the right side of it. She kept looking at the road in front of her and also at the truck. Her attention was mostly focused underneath the truck.

Paul kept looking at her, his eyebrows furrowing together when he realized she had been staring at the huge opening there was underneath that huge truck. "You _better _not think about it." He demanded.

Dawn smirked, adjusting her glasses. "Come on Paul, live a little."

Dawn moved the car right under the truck, increasing the speed of the car a bit more so that the truck wouldn't touch the car at all.

"_Are you fucking insane!?"_ Paul screamed.

Dawn was giggling uncontrollably as she remained under the truck for a few more seconds before moving the car to the left smoothly, getting out from underneath the large truck.

"_Leave me, lying here. Cause I don't wanna go."_

When Paul thought she was done surprising him, he was proved wrong when she did a sharp 360 degree turn towards the exit.

Dawn was laughing hard when they got off the highway, now slowing the car a bit until she got at regular speed level. She found Paul's reaction priceless.

Paul was glaring hard at her as she now drove steadily, a grin still on her face.

Dawn looked at him and then back at the road. She laughed again. "Don't be mad."

"Don't be mad? You almost got us killed." He said in anger, a serious look playing on his face.

"We're alive Paul, nothing bad happened to us." She giggled, now moving her shades to the top of her head. "Besides, I wanted to show you some neat tricks I learned from an old friend of mine."

"_I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go."_

"This is the last time I'm ever letting you drive my car." Paul mumbled as he let his face now rest on his palm.

* * *

**A/N: Paul saw his life flash before his eyes with Dawn's driving haha. At least the two are beginning to make up! **

**Songs used in this chapter: What is Love by V. Bozeman, Volcano Girls by Veruca Salt.**

**Let me know what you guys think is going to happen next in the reviews! Also, next chapter is very rated M, just letting you guys know.**


	12. Ruby Red

**A/N: This chapter contains **_**A LOT**_** of drug use and **_**very **_**explicit and erotic sexual scenes. **

_**Ruby Red **_**symbolizes excitement, passionate love, and feeling sexually aroused.**

* * *

It had been a long drive back home from that cabin, but Paul felt it was worth it. He was finally able to be happy with her without Ash getting in the way of everything. It felt really good because they were busy focused on each other. Ash was nowhere to be brought up and he really liked that.

Paul stopped in front of his building. He lived in the projects his whole life, and it is said that the projects is the most dangerous part to live in the city, but Paul never exactly seen what was so bad about it. It was just a place to live.

He looked over at Dawn, wondering if she had to be home since he did borrow her for almost two days already. "Don't you have to get home? I'm sure Johanna is concerned where you are."

"Oh, there's no need to worry." Dawn waved her hand. "I did tell her that I got rejected at my audition, so I told her I wouldn't be home for a few days."

Paul raised his eyebrow, as if to believe otherwise.

Dawn sighed, "I just don't want to be home, that's all…"

Paul continued to look at her before shoving his hand inside his pocket and pulling out the keys to his car. "I guess you can stick around here for a bit." He turned off his car and climbed out of it. He saw a few people standing outside, some of them were his neighbors that he knew.

"Yo, wassup Paul." One of the guys called who was standing in front of the building, smoking with five other guys.

"Sup," Paul nodded his head at them and walked around his car, opening the door for Dawn.

Dawn climbed out of the car and Paul closed the door for her.

He grabbed her hand and began to head toward his building. Dawn honestly never really liked where he lived because there was so many guys that kept looking at her in a way, though Paul never noticed. She squeezed his hand tightly and Paul raised his eyebrow when they reached the entrance of the building.

When they walked inside, they stopped at the elevator and pressed the button. His room was on the 7th floor and Paul never liked using the stairs so he always used the elevator.

The elevator opened after a bit and they walked inside. Paul quickly pressed the button to the 7th floor.

Dawn made a face at the smell inside the elevator. It always smelled like piss and all kinds of shit inside that elevator. That's one thing Paul was used to smelling about living in the projects, people always peed and did all kinds of shit anywhere they wanted. It was disgusting. But Paul was used to the smell, not letting it faze him at all.

As soon as they reached the 7th floor, they walked out of the elevator and walked down to the far right, stopping right in front his apartment room, being number 74.

Paul pulled out his keys again and placed the key inside the door lock and turned it 90 degrees to the right. He then pulled the door open and let Dawn walk inside first, him following behind her.

"Is Reggie home?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Paul closed the door behind him and turned on the light from the kitchen. His eyes immediately fell on a note that was placed on the counter and he picked it up before reading it silently to himself.

Dawn took her shades off from her head and placed it on the counter. She pulled strands of hair behind her ears and looked at Paul, wondering what he was reading. "What's that?"

After taking a few more seconds to read the note, Paul groaned. "Reggie went out of town with Maylene and he wants me to clean up the house before he gets back."

Dawn grabbed the note from his hands and read it over. Paul groaned, really not in the mood to clean at all. He took a brief look around him and became instantly annoyed. Reggie sure as hell needs to pick up after himself. What does he think Paul is? Cinderella?

Paul groaned and went to the fridge to get himself a beer bottle. He popped the cap open and chugged down a lot of the alcohol inside.

"I can help you clean, if you want." Dawn suggested, walking over to him. She let her butt lean against the small table in the middle of the kitchen and took a brief look around her surroundings as well. "The kitchen isn't so dirty."

Paul scoffed before pulling the drink away from his lips. "That's just the kitchen." He pointed his finger behind her. "Wait till you see all the other rooms."

Dawn looked over at him and watched him bring the drink back up to his lips. She watched him for a bit drinking his beer.

Paul continued to chug down the alcohol before pulling the drink away from his lips. He looked at Dawn only to see that she had been looking at him.

He raised his eyebrow. Dawn giggled as she pushed her butt off from leaning against the table behind her. "Where's all of your cleaning items? I can start in the living room."

"I'm not really in the mood to clean." Paul mumbled.

"Come on," she wined. "If we work together, we can get it done faster. I promise."

Paul just looked at her with a plain look and suddenly she made a puppy face. Paul wasn't so sure how to react with that face. Every girl always seemed to manage to get what they want with that face, but he wasn't having it with Dawn. There's no way in hell she's going to convince him to clean.

Dawn continued to make that face and Paul scoffed. "That's not gonna work on me," he brought the drink back up to his lips.

Dawn frowned. "Please?"

After drinking the rest of his beer, he placed the empty bottle on the counter and walked up to her. "We can clean later. Besides, Reggie isn't gonna be home any time soon tonight."

"Fine," Dawn sighed as she looked up at him.

Paul smirked and leaned down to kiss her. "I'll be right back, I need to get something from my room."

"Okay," she mumbled as he brushed past her.

Dawn sighed as she looked at the kitchen again, beginning to take off his leather jacket she had on and placed it down on top of a chair.

Dawn was happy being here with Paul. It felt good to take her mind off of things, especially with that dreadful audition. She wished the judges had accepted her, but then again Paul was right, life always gets rough at times.

She frowned again as she remembered her audition. It just really bothered her that she didn't make it. After all the hard practices and everything she worked for, she still wasn't good enough.

Dawn sighed as she pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. Screw those judges. Paul was here to cheer her up and there's no way in hell she's gonna let those judges ruin her night.

She began wandering off toward the living room before switching the light on.

The way it smelled inside the living room smelled like a shit load of drugs. Knowing Reggie and Paul, they always smoke a lot so it didn't really surprise her that the house even smelled that way.

She took a seat on the burgundy couch and picked up a large glass tube that was on the coffee table. She had no idea what it was, but she had a feeling that it must have been related to drugs.

Dawn placed the glass tube back on the table and leaned her back against the couch as she let out a light sigh.

After a while Paul came back and saw she had been sitting on the couch so he sat next to her.

Dawn looked at him and saw he had some weed rolled up like a cigarette and he placed one inside his mouth before pulling out a lighter. Dawn watched as he lit up the end of the blunt and inhaled some smoke before exhaling it out into the air.

She watched as the air left out of his mouth and into their surroundings.

Paul placed the lighter back inside his pocket and turned to her. "So what do you want to do?" He raised his eyebrow, placing his blunt back inside his mouth.

Dawn continued to look at his mouth and saw as he inhaled some more smoke and let it flow out into the air. She was becoming really fascinated for some reason. "I want to have fun." She stated, eyeing his blunt.

"Okay," Paul said, smoke leaving his mouth. "What kind of fun?"

After staring at him for what seemed like forever, she finally made up her mind. "I want to get high."

Paul stared at her for a long time, surprised with what she wanted to do. "Are you sure?"

Dawn nodded her head. "I've been told so many times that it's an amazing feeling and I just want to experience that kind of feeling."

Paul wasn't sure if he should allow her to get high. She's never been in that state before, let alone never smoked before. It was all so sudden to him. First the driving thing and now she wants to get high? She was most definitely filled with surprises that day.

"But you don't smoke," he recalled.

"I've smoked a hookah pen before."

Paul stared at her with a blank look. "That's practically water vapor. That shit does nothing to you."

Dawn shrugged. "It has a nice after taste. I've tried the blueberry flavor and the apple flavor."

Paul laughed, "That's nothing compared to actually smoking a blunt."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "But I do know that both involve inhaling smoke and I know how to do that."

Paul continued to look at her with a blank look and Dawn laughed. "There's no need to worry. I want to do it with you and I trust that you would keep me safe."

Paul continued to stare at her, still holding his blunt in between his fingers. The smoke in his blunt burned into the air while he looked at her. This was something new for her and he wasn't even sure if he was comfortable with letting her do something like that. It was really risky to him and he didn't want to be the one responsible for anything bad happening to her.

Dawn continued to look at him and he stared back at her. God, he was so in love with her. If only she knew that.

She did say that she wanted to do it with him, so that made him feel good. She trusted him enough to do something like that with him and that made him re-think things.

Paul licked his lips and turned his body slightly to her. "Alright," he said finally. "I'm only doing this because you asked me to."

"Yay!" Dawn smiled in excitement. "So what are we doing first?"

Paul smiled slightly and tried to think of something easy for her to do first. He looked at his blunt and then he looked at her. After a moment of thinking, he opened his mouth to speak. "Have you ever heard of shot gunning?"

Dawn raised her eyebrow. "Shot gun?" She looked down slightly, trying to think of what that could be.

Paul smirked slightly, "Well a shot gun is when you inhale smoke from someone else's mouth."

"Enlighten me then." Dawn got comfortable in the couch and brought her legs up, eyeing him.

Paul stared at her for a few more seconds and then turned his body completely around to face her. He placed the blunt in between his lips and dropped his hand on one of her bare thighs since she had her legs up in criss cross apple sauce. He leaned his face into hers.

Dawn stared at him as she felt his hot breath pass over her mouth. Paul instantly blew smoke into her mouth, his lips touching hers. Dawn inhaled the smoke as best as she could, doing what she was told.

Paul pulled back slightly and watched her face. She looked like she had the hang of it just for a second, but then she began coughing.

He smirked a bit, his left hand still resting on her thigh as she continued to cough out the smoke she inhaled.

"Wow," she coughed, smoke coming out of her mouth.

"Told you it was different compared to a hookah." Paul smirked, amused with her reaction. He knew she was gonna cough, but it was pretty sexy to be that close to her and try shot gunning with her.

After calming down with her coughing, Dawn laughed lightly and brought her hands up to her mouth, looking at him. He was staring at her, waiting for her to regain her composure.

"Let's try that again," she mumbled, pulling her hands away from her mouth and now getting more comfortable. Paul's hand fell from her thigh as she moved her body closer to him so that her face was closer to his. "I'll try my best not to cough this time."

Paul raised his eyebrow and looked at her lips and then back at her eyes. Dawn licked her lips and Paul was beginning to get turned on, but he did his best to relax himself.

He placed his blunt back between his lips and moved his face into hers. Their lips dangerously touched as he blew smoke into her mouth.

"_Whatever you wanna do, uh-huh. Whether it's at the crib or club. It's all up to you, uh-huh. Whatever you wanna do."_

Dawn inhaled the smoke and Paul watched her. After a few moments, she let the smoke exhale from her mouth and into the air smoothly, this time not coughing and more relaxed.

Paul pulled back a bit.

"I did it?" She raised her eyebrow, not sure if she did it right.

"Yeah,"

Dawn giggled and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "That was nice, but also really hot in a way."

Paul raised his eyebrow at her, noticing what she had been implying. He smirked lightly. "That's the point," he assured her, now bringing the blunt back up to his mouth and inhaled some smoke before letting it exhale out into the air.

"And how do you smoke weed?" She asked him, watching as he smoked his blunt.

"It's basically what you just did," he said as smoke left his mouth. "All you're doing is inhaling smoke and then blowing it out into the air."

"Can I try?" She asked.

Paul continued to smoke his blunt once more before handing it over to her.

"_Tonight, you're with me. I'm talking VIP. Cristal, Moet, Don P tonight, oh."_

Dawn placed it in the center of her lips and inhaled the smoke. Paul kept his eyes on her as he watched her attempting to smoke his blunt.

She pulled the blunt away from her lips and let the smoke out into the air. Paul loved the scent of weed. The simple fact that she was blowing it against his face really turned him on. It seemed like she was really getting the hang of it which really surprised him.

Paul grabbed the blunt from her hands. "Wanna learn something cool?"

Dawn stared at him in excitement. "Like what?"

"Watch me." He pressed the blunt against his lips and inhaled a lot of smoke. He held the blunt down with his left hand and with his right, he began tapping the side of his mouth with his index finger as he blew out smoke. The smoke began to blow out nonstop O shapes with each tap he did against the side of his mouth.

Dawn was amazed with what she was seeing. She was never around much to see amazing tricks like that and that was something she most definitely wanted to do.

"I wanna do that!" She said in excitement.

Paul smirked. "It's probably gonna be hard for you."

"I doubt it," Dawn grabbed the blunt from his hand and placed it in between her lips as she inhaled smoke. Paul watched her as she inhaled and when she was ready she dropped her arm to her side with the blunt and did exactly what Paul just did. She began tapping the side of her mouth just like he did as she blew out the smoke in sync with the taps. The O shapes she was creating were very, very small, but of course, all she needed was practice.

"That's cute," he laughed, grabbing the blunt from her hand.

"_I like when you move up close to me. Sexy, grinding, holding me. Real close, 'cause you're supposed to be, baby."_

"I feel funny," Dawn mentioned, pushing her bangs up a bit before it fell back down over her forehead.

Paul placed the blunt in between his lips again and inhaled more smoke.

This time he blew it out into the air and then inhaled the smoke he let in escape out into the air instantly.

Dawn's head was beginning to tingle a bit and she wasn't sure if it was working or not, but she was most definitely feeling something different. She looked at Paul, watching as he kept blowing out smoke and inhaling it back into his mouth for a few times.

Dawn smiled lightly, closing her eyes a bit.

Paul was already getting high, so he was definitely used to the feeling. Paul let the smoke come out of his mouth and he breathed in the smoke with his nose, French inhaling.

She giggled lightly as she looked at Paul, staring at him. "Wow, the smoke is just going in your nose…"

Dawn wasn't understanding what was happening, but she was feeling really happy, something she hadn't felt in such a long time. "Wow," she moaned, closing her eyes. Dawn slowly got up from the couch and picked up the glass tube thing that was on the coffee table. She analyzed it, trying to figure out what is it. "Paul, what is this…?"

"That's a bong," Paul looked at her, the effects hitting him as well. He picked up the bong and got up on his feet as well.

He walked over to the kitchen and turned on the light, Dawn followed behind him as she laughed a bit.

Paul placed the bong inside the sink and turned the water on. Dawn continued to giggle to herself.

Paul made sure to pour down the water through the mouthpiece and into the chamber. After filling it, he grabbed the bowl part and began to put the weed inside, making sure there was enough to smoke.

Dawn closed her eyes slightly and rocked her head and body from side to side.

"_Whatever you do, uh uh. Whether it's at the crib or club. It's all up to you, uh uh. Whatever you wanna do."_

Paul pulled his lighter out from his pocket and placed his mouth on the top of the chamber. He placed his index finger on the carb and with his free hand, he held the lighter and lit the substance while simultaneously inhaling.

He inhaled a lot of smoke and held it inside his lungs for a few moments until exhaling it out smoothly into the air, a lot of smoke forming in the kitchen and heading towards Dawn.

Dawn became mesmerized.

Paul handed the bong over to her after taking a hit and made her put her finger on the carb. She pressed her mouth on the top of the chamber and inhaled a lot of smoke. Paul moved her hair away from her shoulders so she could be more comfortable. He watched as she inhaled before removing her lips from the chamber and exhaling it out right at him.

Dawn giggled lightly when the smoke crashed onto his face and he laughed too.

The two were already getting high with the hits they took. Paul was feeling real good, especially being around Dawn.

"I feel lovely," Dawn laughed, handing the bong back over to him.

"It feels fucking amazing, doesn't it?" Paul placed his finger over the carb and took another hit from the bong.

* * *

Dawn and Paul spent hours smoking non-stop and they were still going at it.

It was currently raining hard outside, thunderstorms booming across the sky, causing Dawn to laugh in excitement even more.

Dawn's hair was a mess and all over the place, along with Paul's. The two equally looked high, red in the eyes and all.

"_Come here, pretty. I've got a way to mess you up."_

They were currently in the kitchen.

Paul had been setting up a waterfall bong in the sink while Dawn sat on top of the kitchen counter, moving her head back and forth while smoking a blunt.

"_I'll tell you something, to make you feel like you're in love. I'll find a way,"_

After lighting up the substance and screwing off the bowl from the top of the empty soda bottle, he leaned down and sucked in the smoke.

Dawn jumped down from the counter as soon as he brought his head up, standing up straight and letting the smoke exhale out into the air. Dawn handed him her blunt and he took it from her hands, placing it against his lips as he inhaled a lot of smoke before exhaling it out.

He watched as she leaned down toward the waterfall bong to suck in the smoke and he placed the blunt he had in his hands on the counter and grabbed her hair away from her shoulders. Dawn inhaled a lot of smoke.

"_And I'll be sure when you close your eyes that all you see is me."_

Dawn stood up straight and blew the smoke toward the ceiling, laughing lightly afterwards. She jumped slightly when she heard thunder boom through the sky once more, this time cutting off the electricity they had inside the house.

Paul laughed hard as well as Dawn.

"Fucking thunder," Dawn laughed, grabbing the blunt that Paul placed down on the counter. She placed it against her lips as she inhaled.

Paul looked at Dawn. Though, it was very dark throughout the kitchen, as well as the rooms, but he still had enough light to see Dawn because of the windows and the blinds were open. He grabbed the blunt from her lips and leaned in to kiss her.

He could feel smoke rushing inside his mouth, but he continued to kiss her anyway.

Dawn giggled against his lips and pulled away from the kiss, turning her body away from him and heading toward the hallway.

"_I heard somewhere that there's a doctor you can see."_

"Where you going?" He mumbled, chasing after her.

He was feeling really good on the inside. He just loved the feeling of getting high.

Paul brought his blunt up to his lips and inhaled smoke as he searched to find her, becoming a bit confused of where she left off to.

She was giggling uncontrollably nearby and Paul assumed that she must have stumbled across his room.

It was too freaking dark inside the house and he needed to find a candle right away. Paul tried to stop and think for a moment where the candles inside the house could be.

It was sort of difficult for him to think of where it could be since he was so high at the moment.

Paul stumbled upon the bathroom and instantly found a candle. He grabbed the candle and then made his way over to his room.

"Dawn?" He laughed lightly, seeing a shadow of her lying down on the floor with something in her hands.

Paul pulled his lighter out of his pocket and lit up the candle. The candle lit up a little bit of the room, but it was enough for him to see what she was doing.

Dawn had been holding a pillow in her arms, hugging it tightly and laughing uncontrollably.

Paul laughed after seeing what she had in her hands.

"_Can you believe my luck with all this stuff? It's making me insane."_

He placed the candle down on the nearest dresser he found and pulled his black shirt off, tossing it at his bed.

Paul was feeling completely energized and he began jumping in place.

Dawn placed the blunt she had back into her mouth and inhaled some more smoke before letting it float into the air. She looked up at the ceiling and began to sing lightly.

Paul continued to jump in place and brought his blunt back up to his lips as he inhaled more smoke. He moved his hair out of his eyes as he continued to jump in place, letting out short breaths with every jump he took.

"_That I'll be damn sure when you close your eyes that all you see is me."_

Dawn felt like she was floating and she loved every bit of it.

Paul stopped jumping after a while and he stared down at Dawn, smiling while she giggled.

He continued to stare at her for a bit, beginning to fall into deep thoughts.

Dawn has been in his life for such a long time. She never once did anything to break his heart so why did he keep thinking that Ash was such a threat? Ash was only her best guy friend, that's all he'll ever be. Paul began to wonder if that's really how she always looked at Ash. As just a best friend. And maybe, just maybe he got it all wrong. That maybe she really does love him and she only loves Ash as a friend.

Paul continued to stare at her as she smoked.

She was here with him now, smoking and having a great time. She was doing all these great things with him, instead of Ash. So doesn't that prove that she loves_ him_ and not Ash?

"Paul, come here." Dawn moaned, throwing the pillow she had in her arms at her side.

Paul immediately broke out of his thoughts after hearing her voice. He looked down at her, seeing as she stretched her arms out towards him.

Dawn smiled, laughing still. "Come on," she wined.

Paul tried to remember what he was just thinking about before she called for him, but it was all a blur and he had no idea where he let his mind wander off to. Paul shook his head and grabbed some pills he had inside his drawer and got down on the floor, hovering over Dawn.

Dawn had been eyeing his small zip-lock bag of pills and wondered what it was. "What is that?"

Paul shrugged. "I don't know. These are my brothers, but they sure make me feel good."

Dawn grinned.

Paul pulled out two small pills and placed the bag beside them. Dawn opened her mouth as he placed one inside. Dawn instantly swallowed the pill and saw as Paul placed one into his mouth.

She laughed lightly, staring up at him.

Paul began to straighten his arms out at each side of her in a push up position.

Dawn brought her blunt back up to her lips and inhaled. Paul stared down at her as he slowly began to do push-ups on her. She looked up at him and blew smoke into his face every time his body drew down towards hers. "What are you doing?" She giggled.

Paul smirked as he continued, "Getting warmed up."

"For what?" She raised her eyebrow, bringing the blunt towards his lips. Paul acknowledged her and inhaled some smoke. After inhaling some, Dawn pulled the blunt away from his lips and let him exhale the smoke.

"For you," he told her, the smoke rushing at her face. Dawn laughed lightly at him as she watched him continue slowly.

He continued to do push-ups on her smoothly.

Paul was in one hell of a good mood and he was really in the mood to have sex for some reason.

Thunder boomed once again outside, causing Dawn to scream in surprise.

Paul laughed at Dawn's reaction and stared down at her. He paused with his push up's midway and grabbed the blunt from her hands and started to touch on her hair, caressing it softly.

"I really fucking love you." He told her, staring down at her.

Dawn stared up at him and smiled lightly. "I love you more."

Paul leaned down and kissed her. Dawn kissed him back, but before she could kiss him more, thunder boomed again outside, causing Dawn to break away from the kiss. "Oh my gosh!"

Paul groaned slightly at the interruption. Dawn pushed Paul softly off of her and got up on her feet, walking toward the window to look outside.

He watched as she looked out the window and he brought the blunt back up to his lips. He got up on his feet slowly and stared at her from the back.

Paul was really horny and he wanted to fuck now.

"It's raining really hard," Dawn mumbled, staring outside at the water rushing down hard in the city.

Paul dropped his blunt to his side as he blew out smoke into the air, walking slowly up to her as she continued to look outside.

Dawn gasped slightly when she felt Paul's body pressed up behind her.

"_Don't apologize, I quite enjoy messy. I see that bottle after bottle got you goin' crazy."_

He placed his lips on the side of her neck and began kissing on it slowly while moving his left hand slowly down her arm. Dawn closed her eyes slightly when she felt his lips on her neck. She felt the inside of her body getting a sensational feeling when she felt his left hand grab her ass.

Paul moved her shirt down a bit on her right shoulder so that it could reveal her skin and he bit down slowly on her shoulder as he gripped her ass cheek through her pants with his left hand.

Dawn moaned in response, getting equally as horny as he was getting.

Paul handed her his blunt as she took it in her hands. Dawn brought the blunt up to her lips while Paul moved his hands up the front of her shirt and grabbed a hold of her bare breasts. She had her back facing him and he was still able to get a good grip of them and he groaned in satisfaction. "I want to fuck you so bad right now," he groaned.

"Then do it." She moaned, enjoying the feel of his hands on her breasts. She held her hands over his own as she felt him grip her breasts even more.

"_It's a good vibe, good vibe, good vibe. Don't you ever threaten niggas with a good time."_

After a while he then moved his hands down to her waist and moved her ass up aggressively against his dick, though he had his pants on still. She could feel him growing from the inside of his pants.

He just loved the way her ass felt against him, over his pants. He began to pull down her shorts along with her panties slowly.

Dawn moved her hair to the other side to look slightly back at him.

"_Cause all this fame, I earned it, I might as well use it. Private elevator goin' straight to my unit."_

Paul whipped his dick out and instantly inserted himself in her. He pushed her body down a bit as she leaned over his dresser. He stared down at her bare ass and he began to thrust himself in and out of her. Dawn moaned with every thrust he gave her, her hair falling over her face.

He placed each of his hands against her waist and pounded into her, increasing the speed.

"Oh god," Dawn moaned in pleasure, feeling him pounding into her.

She didn't know what she was doing and neither did he. But they both knew that this felt extremely amazing. Dawn was feeling indescribable pleasure, something she's never felt before.

Paul continued to pound himself into her, groaning in pleasure as he stared down at her ass. He loved having sex doggy style because that way he got to see the view of her ass shaking against him and he loved that.

Dawn screamed with every hit he did, holding onto the edges of his dresser as she tried to control herself.

"_Can't nobody stop me, used to be homeless. Now that penthouse at the Ritz where my home is."_

Dawn instantly reached her climax at the same time as he did. Paul groaned, thrusting himself once more to finish off as he let out a breath of air.

She straightened her body out and let her back press against his chest. Her hair had been hanging from the back of her head, so Paul moved all her hair to the left side of her neck and he pressed his lips onto the revealing part of her neck, now letting his right hand maneuver slowly down her stomach and toward her opening.

Dawn gasped as she felt his fingers enter her, her wet juices immediately closing over his fingers. Paul groaned in satisfaction as he began to circle his fingers around her soft spot. He felt her hand instantly grab his pants, her reaction making him very hot. Paul began to bite down on her neck softly and continued to let his fingers work its magic.

She couldn't even begin to think. She was so high and yet she felt like she was experiencing paradise. She always imagined paradise as a lovely place filled with sunshine and rainbows and that's exactly how she felt right now.

Paul began to move his fingers in and out of her at a fast pace. He wanted to make her explode and to scream out his name in pleasure. The simple fact of hearing her moan his name would make him go nuts. He wanted to hear it.

When he felt her gripping his pants even more, Paul knew she was about to reach her end, so he increased the pace. He listened as her voice cracked in moans, and once he heard her yell out that final moan, he stopped and instantly moved the both of his hands over her breasts and gripped them.

He held them in his hands and squeezed them, moving them. "You like that?" He asked lowly, his lips pressed next to her ear.

She moaned in response, feeling the wetness she left on his fingers being rubbed on her nipples.

She grabbed the blunt she had resting on the dresser and brought it back up to her lips, inhaling the smoke.

Paul pushed her down so that she was leaning over his dresser again. He instantly flipped her around and brought her right leg over the other side of his waist before lifting her up against him. Dawn's arm instantly latched over his neck and her legs hooked around his waist as she looked at him. All he could smell was weed coming from her breath and it just turned him on even more.

Dawn brought her blunt back to her lips and Paul watched as she inhaled smoke. Paul was still horny for more sex and he didn't want to stop. He began to guide her toward his bed and he instantly dropped her on the bed, her back landing on his comforter.

Dawn watched as he moved his pants down, so he had his dick hanging out. She stared at it hard and looked up at his face. She knew exactly what he wanted and she could tell that he wanted it now. Dawn handed him the blunt she was holding and began to get down on the floor and got comfortable. Paul groaned when he felt her hand wrap around his shaft, the feel of her soft hand driving him insane.

Paul brought the blunt up to his lips and inhaled a lot of smoke before exhaling it out in the air, the smoke creating interesting shapes as it left his mouth.

She first began to lick the top of him, teasing him. Paul groaned again, that sensational feeling lingering and he wanted more, a lot more. She began to lick around his shaft first, moaning at the same time. Paul felt like his world was on fire, her tongue was like magic.

He watched as she placed his shaft inside her mouth slowly, looking up at him. The way she was looking at him really made him feel nervous, in a good way.

As she began sucking on it, moving her mouth up and down on it, Paul grabbed her hair in hands, holding it up so it wouldn't be in the way of her giving him a blowjob.

He groaned, feeling her slurping every bit of him.

He was beginning to grow lost in the ecstasy of the dangerous youthful blowjob.

Dawn continued to suck him off, getting him off the edge. Paul felt like she was doing a great job and he was wondering where she learned how to suck a dick very well. He began to let his thoughts wander off for a bit, wondering if she had sucked a dick before.

He immediately broke out of his thoughts when he felt his climax reaching. He instantly finished in her mouth, knowing that she gave him the best blowjob he's ever had.

Yeah, he got sucked off by a few girls, but none of those girls compared to her. She was like a pro.

"_It makes me smile, it makes me smile, 'cause I got it."_

Dawn licked her lips, enjoying the taste of him.

Paul watched as she got back up and leaned back on the bed, looking at him seductively.

She already had both her shorts and panties off, so Paul was satisfied.

He handed her the blunt back and then he began to push her body down completely so that her back was laying against the bed. He opened her legs and positioned himself between them. He wanted her to feel the same exact pleasure that he felt. Paul personally felt like he was a pro when it came to eating a girl out, so he hoped that he would push her over the edge.

Paul brought his hands up to her pussy and opened it, so he can give her a great feeling. Dawn gasped immediately when she felt his tongue moving around her and he moved his tongue at a very fast pace and Dawn couldn't keep up. She felt him closing his lips over her clit, pulling it and everything. He was sucking and slurping all the juices she created with every lick he gave her. He loved the taste of her, especially since it was his first time tasting her. He didn't want to stop, he wanted to continue eating her out all night long.

Dawn moved her hand toward his head and buried her hand into his hair as she pushed him closer to her core. Paul became more turned on when he felt her pushing him closer to her core, as if she was really enjoying what he was doing. He liked this a lot. It really made him hot, knowing that he was making her enjoy herself.

Paul increased the pace of his tongue even faster. He even paused for a moment and spit on her pussy. He wanted her to cum for him and he wanted her to cum a lot.

"_All the pain, sweat and tears, just to get a piece, but now we got it."_

"Paul!" Dawn screamed in pleasure, her body jerking up at him. Paul couldn't control himself after hearing his name, he continued to eat her out, deciding to insert two fingers into her pussy.

He felt her closing around his fingers and he loved how wet she was. Paul continued to please her, knowing that she was about to cum in a few moments.

Dawn moaned, cursing in pleasure as she tugged on the bed sheets. It wasn't until a moment later that she instantly came inside his mouth and Paul sucked up all her juices, still licking up every bit of her.

After licking her clean, Paul stood up and Dawn moaned lightly, now beginning to sit up as well, looking up at him.

"_Man look at the kid now, can nobody stop me. I don't got a single sober vein in my body."_

Paul now stood up, waiting for her to regain her breath after feeling that kind of pleasure.

He stood at the edge of the bed and after she regained her breath, he pulled her closer to him and raised her legs up to her chest. He had her knees bent as if she was doing a bicycling exercise.

Paul grabbed one of her ankles and let her heels rest on one of his shoulders. He began to place himself into her and began to thrust into her. He liked this position because this way he got to see the view of him thrusting in and out of her.

"_Condo blow money, like it's all dope money. Come short wet niggas, like a speed boat coming, oh lord."_

Paul grabbed the blunt from her hands and brought it back up to his lips and inhaled smoke as he continued to thrust himself into her.

Dawn moaned in pleasure, and he listened, knowing that she was nearly out of breath.

He moved the blunt to his side and let the smoke out into the air, beginning to thrust even faster.

Paul just couldn't get enough. This was amazing.

"_I'm the champ, baby, Real Deal Holyfield. Got the bitches, want it dirty, went and bought the crib."_

Paul felt her closing around him, that tightness really making him go crazy. It felt really good, he couldn't describe the way it felt, he just knew it felt amazing.

"Yeah, baby," he groaned, moving even faster, at a pace that felt perfect for him. The way he was pounding into her really made him feel like he was on fire, but in a good way. She was making him feel really good.

"_Fuck a burqa now she in the Bentley. That's when she went and tatted double MG."_

She was moaning uncontrollably, the headboard on the bed hitting against the wall with every movement he created. She was taking short breaths as he moved against her.

Paul felt her closing around him even tighter and instantly they both reached their climax at the same exact time. Dawn let out a hard breath of air and Paul groaned to himself, letting out an exasperating breath of air as well.

Paul brought the blunt back up to his lips and inhaled smoke, closing his eyes. He felt her legs fall from his shoulder and his hand freeing from her ankle as her legs moved to the floor and she sat up on the bed. She grabbed the blunt from his lips and brought it to hers. Paul raised his eyebrow at her.

She let out a bunch of smoke into the air and it came rushing towards him.

His whole room was smelling like weed. As a matter of fact, the whole house was smelling like weed, but Paul didn't care. He was just happy that he was with Dawn.

"_It makes me smile, it makes me smile, 'cause I got it."_

Dawn giggled lightly, moving her hair out of her face and to the back.

Paul licked his lips and pulled his pants up. He then leaned down at her level towards her and placed his hands on the bed at each side of her body. She was in between him with his arms at each side of her.

Dawn stared up at him and he stared at her too.

He was staring at her with a serious look, a bit curious about one thing. "How you know how to suck a dick?"

Dawn giggled in surprise with that question. "I watch porn. Duh." She laughed, biting down on her lower lip.

Paul watched as she bit down on her bottom lip and then he looked back up at her eyes. He licked his lips again and let his thumb brush under her lip and he began to think again.

Dawn kept her eyes on him, while he continued to look at her biting her lip and letting his thumb still brush under her lip in deep thought. "… I fucking love you." He mumbled, looking into her eyes now.

Dawn blinked, staring into his onyx eyes.

Being with him tonight really made her happy. If Paul really thought she had some kind of feelings for Ash, then he is wrong on that part. Ash is nothing compared to him. Ash doesn't make her feel perfect like the way _he_ does. Paul is the only person she truly loved and she'd die without him. If only he knew that.

Paul began to wonder why she was staring at him as if she were in thought. "What?"

Dawn blinked, immediately taken out of her thoughts. She smiled instantly. "Nothing," she giggled, pressing her lips onto his again.

* * *

**A/N: God was this chapter so freaking hard to write. I was literally having trouble trying to write the drugs scenes as well as the sex scenes! The sex scenes wasn't as hard as the drug scenes in my opinion. I haven't been involved with any drugs at all and plus I haven't read anything that included drugs to help me out, so I struggled through a lot of research, asking a lot of people on how to write about it. I did the best I could…**

**Anyway, I must say that this chapter was very crazy and is most definitely in the M rating. **

**It literally took like three months to try and finish this chapter, though no one knows that except for the people I talked about this story with. But I'm glad that I finally got the hardest chapter over with and now I can write my other chapters easy without wanting to rip my head off lmao.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Whatever by Ideal, Whiter Straighter by Adaline, In Vein by The Weeknd ft. Rick Ross**

**Please review!**


	13. Cobalt Blue

**A/N: Last chapter was pretty crazy, I must say lol. **

**I wrote all the way up to 23 chapters so far for this story, and I got one more left to write! I'm so excited… but you guys don't have to worry about the end coming now cause that's nowhere near soon lol.**

_**Cobalt Blue **_**symbolizes being in love, genuine concerns and serious concentration.**

* * *

Dawn rocked her head to the beat of the music she had been playing, moving her body side to side as she cooked breakfast. She was in a really good mood. Spring Break just started and she had forgotten that it even began after worrying about that stupid audition. Thanks to Paul, he helped her get over that audition and made her feel much better.

"_Just a steel town girl on a Saturday night, looking for the fight of her life."_

She blushed lightly as she flipped around the pancakes she was making. She continued to move with the song, loving the catchy beat the song contained.

Last night was very exciting. She had done a lot with Paul and she wasn't so sure of how she was going to act around him when he finally wakes up. They smoked all night long and they had some pretty wild sex. Dawn blushed again as she remembered their intense moments last night. It was really hot and she just couldn't believe that they even had sex in such a wild and intense way. That was a whole new side of him she has never seen before, but she most definitely loved it.

"_Locking rhythm to the beat of her heart, changing movement into light."_

Dawn started to turn over the omelet she had cooking on a separate pan.

The food smell great and she just knew that Paul was going to like it. She was making omelet with bacon and pancakes on the side, so she was hoping that that was enough to fill him up. Knowing him, he likes to eat a lot and she was sure that he will be full with all that food.

Dawn smiled again as she grabbed the spatula and took the pancakes out of the pan, setting them on a separate plate.

"_It can cut you like a knife if the gift becomes the fire."_

She turned off the stove she wasn't using and turned back toward the pan that had the omelet cooking inside of it.

They had fallen asleep at a very late time and Dawn was surprised that Reggie hadn't been back by now. She looked over at the time on the stove and it was currently 10:15 in the morning. He must have been doing something very important with Maylene to not be back by now.

Dawn shook her head and focused on cooking.

When the omelet finished, she placed it on a separate plate since there was enough omelet for her and Paul. She already had the bacon set out the way she wanted, all she had to do next was cook it on the pan. Dawn grabbed the butter spray and sprayed the pan again before placing it back down on the counter. She then scooped the bacon onto the pan with a knife, setting down the meat cutting board she used on the counter.

"_She's a maniac, maniac on the floor…"_ Dawn sang, following the song as she moved the bacon around with the spatula.

The whole house was a mess and it smelled like nothing but weed throughout the whole house. She sighed as she continued moving the bacon. Knowing Reggie, he would be having a heart attack if he saw the way his house looked right now.

Hopefully after Paul and her finish eating, they could clean up the house before he gets back. But Dawn had no idea when he would be back because he never exactly said what time.

After a few minutes of letting the bacon cook, she turned off the stove and placed the bacon onto another separate plate so there was enough bacon for the both of them.

"_And she's dancing like she's never danced before…"_ Dawn sang.

After serving their plates, she grabbed two glass cups and set up orange juice for the both of them.

She smiled in satisfaction after looking at the food and the way she set it up. She was proud of herself and she was hoping that Paul would enjoy every bit of it.

Dawn made sure to clean around the kitchen table since there was a lot of weed they left around last night. After cleaning it up, she placed both her plate and his plate along with their glass cups neatly onto the table.

She pulled a strand of her hair over her ear and then gathered all the dishes she wasn't using anymore into the sink.

It was now time to go and wake up Paul.

Dawn smiled as she now left the kitchen and went to get Paul from his room.

Paul was knocked out. He was snoring and his back was facing her as she stood staring at him from the doorway. He was shirtless and only in his underwear. Dawn giggled as she took a look around his room again. It was a huge mess and he really needed to do something about it.

She walked into his room and began to nudge him on his side, trying to wake him up. His head was buried into his pillow and he wasn't waking up at all.

Dawn giggled when she realized that he was sound asleep. "Paullll." Dawn called, trying to wake him up as she continued to nudge him.

Paul groaned slightly, his eyes still closed as he turned his back to her even more. "No," he groaned, burying his head into the pillow.

"Paul, wake up, I made breakfast." Dawn continued, still nudging him.

"Wake me up later," he said, his voice being muffled by the pillow.

Dawn sighed as she stopped nudging him, staring at him for a few more seconds. He was going to wake up whether he liked it or not.

Dawn let her hand fall on his shoulder and instantly turned him around. As soon as she turned him around, she instantly kissed him and he was caught in surprise.

She pulled away from the kiss and folded her arms together. "I made breakfast," she said again.

Paul was still struggling to wake up, his eyes still closing, but he was still caught off guard by the way she turned him around and the way she kissed him afterwards. "Can I wake up first?" He mumbled tiredly, trying to function.

She rolled her eyes. "Well you better hurry up, the food is getting cold." She now walked out of his room and back into the kitchen.

Paul groaned and let the back of his head fall back down on his pillow.

He was really tired and in no mood to get up right now.

Paul moved his arm around the bed in search of his phone with his eyes closed. As soon as he found it, he checked the time and saw that it was now 10:35 am. He groaned again, seeing that it was so early.

He really wasn't in the mood to get up, but Dawn did make breakfast and he could smell the aroma from his room and it smelled really good. Sighing, he slowly got out of bed and moved his hair away from his eyes.

The first thing he did was go straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth. After brushing his teeth, he walked out of the bathroom and went straight into the kitchen.

As he walked into the kitchen, he was surprised to see how she set up the breakfast for them. He stared down at the sight before him, looking at his plate and everything.

"Good morning," She said, smiling.

Paul continued to look at his plate, seeing that she made him omelet with pancakes and bacon. It looked very delicious and he was ready to chow down. He looked up at her. "Good morning," he mumbled, sounding tired. "Everything looks good. Thank you."

"De nada." Dawn smiled, taking a seat in her chair.

Paul sat down next to her and grabbed his fork. Dawn watched as he shoved a mouthful of food inside his mouth and she laughed lightly. "Hungry huh?" She laughed.

Paul laughed with a mouthful as he began to chew his food and swallowed it all down his throat. "It tastes good." He smiled, looking at his plate.

Dawn smiled as he enjoyed his food, beginning to eat her food now.

Paul continued to eat.

He was tired, but he was also happy that he was having a nice breakfast, especially with Dawn. It really made him feel good to know that she even spent the weekend with him. He almost forgot himself that Spring Break started, so that meant that he'd have much more time with her.

Last night was filled with surprises and he was still surprised himself that she even wanted to get high with him. He remembered how high they got and he even remembered what they did while high. He was surprised that he even got to have some intense sex with her. Normally, if he wasn't high, he wouldn't have had sex with her because he knows how he can be when he gets high. Paul was surprised that she was still here and haven't left after having a heated moment like that with him.

He wasn't so comfortable about last night since he knew Dawn wasn't experienced much and he knew it must have been a little bit much for her.

Paul looked at her again, chewing his omelet. She was looking at her food and scooping some into her mouth.

"Dawn?"

Dawn paused with her eating and looked up at Paul. "… What?"

Paul let out a soft sigh and brought his fork back down to his plate. "I was just wondering if…" he looked down toward the table. "Is your body feeling okay?"

She blinked and immediately furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "Yeah…?" she brought her cup of orange juice up to her lips.

Paul watched as she took a sip of her juice and set it back down on the table. "Why?" she asked.

He shrugged, looking down at his food again. "I don't know… I just… did I hurt you last night?"

Dawn raised her eyebrow.

"You know, when we had sex."

"I'm fine Paul." She told him.

"I just know you're not used to having sex that kind of way and I'm sorry that I made you do that with me." He mumbled, slowly looking up at her.

Dawn stared at him for a little while longer and frowned slightly. "There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm fine, really. And anyway, I loved it. It was really different and boy did it feel so good." She laughed, looking at him. "Yeah, we were high, but you wasn't hurting me or anything. You was very gentle and if you were rough, you were rough in a good way."

A small smirk formed on his lips. "You really liked it?"

She nodded.

Paul looked down at his food again, still smirking. "What did you like the most?"

A huge grin soon slid onto her face along with a blush. "Paul, we're eating." She laughed.

Paul laughed and shook his head. "Alright, fine." He laughed, now continuing to eat his food.

They sat there quietly for a few moments while eating their breakfast.

Dawn was happy that he was in a good mood. She hadn't seen him that happy in such a long time. He was always so stressed out over something every time she saw him. She didn't want him to fall back to his old self, how he always used to push everyone away. She always hated when he pushed her away.

Now that she's seeing him like this, happy with her again, she wanted to keep him that way and she hoped that he'll stay that way.

Paul cleared his throat after he finished eating, taking Dawn out of her thoughts.

Dawn looked at Paul.

"I know our two year anniversary was a month ago." He started.

She kept her eyes on him, seeing that he was looking at her in all seriousness.

"And I want to make it up to you. I mean, if you let me." He said, sounding hopeful.

She stared at him for a short while and then smiled. "Sure,"

"Alright," Paul smiled. "Um, how about tonight? I can clean around the house before Reggie gets home."

Dawn raised her eyebrow. "What time does he get home?"

"He didn't tell me. But knowing him, he's going to be out for a while, especially since he's with Maylene." Paul got up and went to put his plate inside the sink along with the glass cup.

Dawn slowly got up from her seat as well and went to put her dishes into the sink. "I can help you clean."

"You said that yesterday," Paul chuckled, now beginning to wash the dishes.

"No, I mean it. This house looks _horrible, _and plus we made it look even worse than it did yesterday when we got high." Dawn laughed, taking a look around her surroundings again.

"You're right," Paul laughed. "Alright fine, you can help me clean."

"Just know that it's going to take a while for us to finish." Dawn giggled, patting him on the shoulder.

* * *

They spent almost 7 hours cleaning and luckily they finished at a good time.

Dawn went on home to find something nice to wear so Paul could take her to the place he wanted to take her. It was their two year anniversary a month ago and he felt really bad that he never gotten the chance to celebrate it with her, so today was the day.

Paul took a look at himself in the mirror again, pulling his hair slightly back into a pony tail, just like how his brother always does. He put on some really good cologne. He wanted to look extra nice and to smell extra good. He had on navy blue jeans with a white dress shirt and legend blue Air Jordan 11s as footwear.

Paul smiled to himself as he took a look at himself once more. He felt satisfied.

He began to leave his house, locking the front door behind him.

He told Dawn to meet him at the train station on 147th street. He wasn't in the mood to drive to where he wanted to take her and he thought it would be much easier to get there faster if they catch the subway anyway.

It took him just a few minutes to get to the train station on 147th street and luckily the train station was underground. He personally loved underground trains the best because they got to places much quicker.

When Paul found her waiting for him, he smiled slightly as he checked her out for a split moment.

She had her hair done very curly, she must have got it done in a salon. Her curly hair reached right to her shoulders beautifully and she was wearing a mint green lace sun dress with light brown strappy sandals. The jewelry she had on complimented her outfit perfectly, with sterling silver bracelets and hoop earrings along with a heart shaped necklace around her neck.

She looked absolutely stunning and Paul felt like the luckiest guy ever.

As he approached her, a smile formed on his face. "You look beautiful."

She blushed and checked him out as well. "And so do you."

Paul smiled as he now walked with her inside the underground train station.

It only took them a few minutes to get inside, after inserting their metro cards in the entrance gate and waiting for their train.

"So where are we going?" Dawn asked, looking around. There were other people waiting for the same train as them. They were going to get on the 4 train, but Dawn was wondering where Paul wanted to take her.

"It's a surprise," he smiled, putting an arm around her.

It wasn't until a second later the train finally arrived. As they walked inside, they noticed there was a lot of people on the subway and Paul always hated when the subways were packed. He knew it's usually packed around the night time, but he really wasn't in the mood to drive his car and struggle on finding somewhere to park. Usually in the city, it's hard to park and you have to pay for parking, that's why many people never usually owned cars in the city and only rode the buses and subways for transportation.

Paul grabbed onto a pole and pulled Dawn closer to him. She grabbed onto the pole too and looked around the train at all the people. Since all the seats were taken, they had to stand up and hold onto one of the poles. Luckily the place wasn't so far away so they wouldn't have to be standing for a while.

Some people were talking while other people were quiet or just listening to music. Paul looked down at Dawn, seeing that she was looking at the people, possibly thinking about something. He kept his arm around her and waited for the subway to stop at their stop.

A few minutes passed by and Paul let go of the pole, startling Dawn.

"_This is 42__nd__ street Times Square. The next stop is 42__nd__ street Grand Central."_ The voice of the train announced.

"Come on," Paul said as he guided her out of the train. A few others got off the train first until they followed behind.

"_Make room for the closing doors please."_ The voice of the train announced as the doors closed after people exited and entered.

"We're gonna celebrate our two year anniversary in Times Square?" Dawn smiled, looking at Paul happily.

Paul looked down at her and smiled. "I guess you could say that."

"I love you Paul." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"_As soon as you came in, I offered you a drink. Better yet, there's a bar in my crib shawty. What you think?"_

Dawn turned around slightly as she heard music coming from inside the train station. "Come on," Paul said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder again and began walking towards the exit.

The music that was playing increased even louder as they walked up the stairs where the exit was. As soon as they walked up a couple stairs and made it to the top, Dawn noticed a group of guys dancing with a boom box on the floor, giving a slight show to the people entering and leaving the train station.

Paul raised his eyebrow at the scene before him.

There were guy's break dancing on the floor, doing spins and such. Dawn opened her mouth happily in surprise, watching the scene. She loved seeing other people street dancing, it always made her excited.

The guys looked like they knew exactly what they were doing with a small audience watching them.

Paul looked over at a sign one of the guys were holding up and saw that it was their crew signature that said "DLT". He had no idea what it stood for, but he figured it must have been their crew name.

"_From the moment I saw you, I knew that you were all that I wanted in a woman. From your style to your walk, to your fragrance. Baby girl, you got my heart ski-ski-skippin'."_

Dawn gasped when she saw them do back flips in a neat way. "Wow," she said in amazement.

Paul smirked and looked at his girlfriend who seemed so excited watching that crew dance. Paul knew a lot about the dance crews in the city, but he never exactly knew who DLT was, so he assumed they must have been a new dance crew.

"_Baby girl, you got my heart ski-ski-skippin'."_

"Let's go," Paul mumbled. Dawn frowned slightly since she wanted to watch the crew dance a little longer, but she decided to go with Paul anyway since it was their day to celebrate their two year anniversary.

Paul guided her towards the exit and as soon as they made it outside, the night air hit them like a mini tornado and Dawn gasped before her. All the buildings were huge and tall, there was many lights, beautiful lights and many people walking and exiting out of the stores, many taxis and cars, there was even horse carriages.

One thing Dawn loved the most about Times Square was the simple fact that it was always so beautiful and the beautiful lights always remained on and many people always were around. She knew it was also many other people's favorite part about the city, but it was most definitely her favorite as well.

"Oh, I just love coming here." Dawn said in awe as she continued to look around.

Paul smirked slightly at her and looked around briefly at the sidewalks to see if there was a spray paint stand anywhere. He wanted to give her a gift before taking her anywhere else.

He hadn't spotted any spray paint stands anywhere, so he assumed it must have been about two blocks down. But it was most definitely in Times Square.

Paul went to grab Dawn's hand and began walking with her as she continued to look around. "Gosh, everything is so beautiful." She said in awe, looking at all the digital pictures displayed on all the buildings. Some featured commercials, newest movies, actors and actresses. Each picture displayed a variety of things.

"Just like you," Paul mumbled.

She slowly turned to look at him and smiled brightly. "Thanks Paul."

He smiled back at her and squeezed her hand tightly as he continued to walk with her down the sidewalks.

They passed just a few buildings and luckily Dawn stopped at the stand he wanted her to stop at.

There was a small audience around a man who had been spray painting the city on a large poster board, while all his other work was set neatly on the floor in a straight line to dry off.

"I always wanted one of those," Dawn said, deciding to walk into the audience and look at the guy spray painting the city as well.

The man was very creative with spray painting. He used circular shapes like plastic cups to create lines and stuff and the spray paint he used to color it made it look very exotic. The man was quick, he was doing everything all smoothly and wasn't even slow at all.

Paul shoved his hand in his pocket as he stood aside, waiting for the man to finish. He wanted to personally get Dawn one of those paintings, but he had a unique painting in mind, a painting that he just knew she would love.

It was only a few moments later that man finished and showed it to the audience. The audience gave him a small round of applause.

Some of the audience members left to continue on with their day while some spoke with the guy to purchase one of his paintings.

Paul whipped out his phone as he searched for the specific picture he wanted the man to paint.

Dawn immediately walked back over to Paul, latching an arm around his. Paul instantly hid his phone from her, deciding not to spoil the surprise for her. "Let's go look around more," she suggested.

"Hold on," Paul said, removing his arm from hers.

Dawn raised an eyebrow when she saw Paul walking over to the spray paint guy. She was wondering what Paul was up to and why he wanted to even speak to the guy.

It only took a few minutes for the guy to talk to the other people that wanted to purchase one of his paintings. Dawn was wondering if maybe Paul also wanted to purchase one for her.

Paul spoke in a low tone, making sure Dawn couldn't hear. "You do any kind of paintings right?"

The guy nodded his head. "Yeah, but I mostly stick to the city paintings."

"Alright, well listen. I just hit two years with my girlfriend and I want to buy her one of your paintings." He showed his phone to the man, pointing toward the picture in his phone. "You think you can do this one?"

The guy took a close look at the picture, looking at all the details and everything.

Dawn raised her eyebrow, wondering what Paul was doing and why he was being so quiet with the spray paint guy.

"Yeah, I can do that. That'll take me approximately five minutes, but it will cost an extra $5 since it's usually not the paintings that I do."

"That's fine," Paul shrugged, pulling out his money. The paintings usually cost $20 bucks, so he gave him $30 instead since the guy was kind enough to do the painting he wanted for Dawn.

"Alright, well here." Paul handed him the money and then held up his phone so the guy could see it. "Copy what you see, but make sure _she—" _Paul pointed his finger at Dawn. "—doesn't see the picture on my phone."

The guy nodded his head. "Alright, I gotcha."

Dawn folded her arms together. "Paul, what are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm buying you a painting, isn't it obvious?" Paul rolled his eyes.

Dawn laughed at his comment, deciding to walk up closer as she looked at the man beginning to work on _her _painting. She always wanted one of the city paintings, better yet the one with the planets.

"Paul, what are you showing him?"

"You'll see," the guy answered, continuing on with the painting.

She smiled at Paul and then let her eyes fall back on the painting.

He was using a lot of green colors along with blue and she was wondering what exactly he was painting because it looked nothing like one of the city paintings or the space paintings.

She furrowed her eyebrows together as she watched him switch from both the green can and the blue can. He was creating some shapes as if to imitate a tree, and it was a large tree. She was confused though when she saw he was adding dark color around the tree, adding some effects that made it look like it took place at night time with the stars. She smiled slightly when she saw he now added planets in the background along with stars.

Paul looked over at Dawn, watching her expression the entire time.

What caught her attention even more is when he started adding blue detail into the tree, making the tree blue instead of green.

Paul continued to look at her face.

"Oh my god," Dawn gasped, now seeing what the man was doing and what the painting really was. It was their tree, the tree when she first met Paul. The tree that always meant so much to her.

A small smile now formed on his face.

The spray paint guy soon finished painting it and put it next to the other paintings that were now drying. "It's all done, but you have to wait about fifteen minutes for it to dry completely before taking it with you."

Paul nodded his head and put his phone back inside his pocket. "Thanks man," he patted the guy on the shoulder and was immediately caught off guard when Dawn jumped right onto him, her arms instantly wrapping around his neck and her lips slamming onto his.

Paul quickly caught her by the waist, surprised and he instantly put her down. "Paul, you are so sweet." She said in awe after removing her lips from his. "I love you so much,"

He smiled at her words. "I love you too."

* * *

Dawn held hands with Paul, while with her free hand she held her painting. They walked down the sidewalks, looking at all the scenery in front of them. It was such a beautiful night and Dawn was having a great time with Paul. It really touched her heart that he even got her such a meaningful painting. They haven't sat at their tree painting at the school in a while and she was sure that he had forgotten about the tree and how much it meant to her. But after receiving that painting, she was proven wrong. He knew how much it meant to her and she could tell he was happy.

Paul meant the world to her and she'd be damned if anything happens to him.

"So, what do you want to do now?" He asked her, curious. Today was about her and he wanted to do whatever she wanted.

Dawn looked around and immediately found a chocolate store. "Ooooh! Let's go to the chocolate store! I always wanted one of those gigantic chocolates!"

"So you're on your period?"

Dawn's eyes widened at Paul's question and looked at him in surprise. "No, where did that come from?"

Paul chuckled, "A lot of girls usually crave chocolate when they're on their period, so…"

Dawn laughed at his comment. "Well I'm not on it. I just really want a gigantic chocolate bar, that's all." She giggled, now guiding him towards the store.

Before they could even walk inside, a voice stopped them from doing so and this voice immediately changed Paul's mood in a heartbeat. His right fist instantly clenched.

"Oh, it's Ash! And Drew, and May!" Dawn said in excitement.

Paul wanted to rip his eyes out. Just when Paul wanted to spend their two year anniversary out in Times Square, Ash also has to be there. This is just great.

"Hey Dawn, hey Paul." Ash said as he fixed his hat, looking at them.

"Hey guys!" May said in excitement.

Drew went up to Paul and gave him a handshake. "What's up, man?"

"Sup," Paul mumbled, giving him a handshake.

"I didn't know you were here. What are you guys up to?" May asked.

Dawn smiled, "Oh, Paul and I are out celebrating our two year anniversary." She squeezed Paul's hand since she was still holding it.

Paul smiled slightly. It felt good that she said that, but he just didn't like the fact that Ash was around.

"Aww! Congratulations!" May smiled, happy for Dawn.

"And look what he got me," Dawn let go of Paul's hand to show May her painting of their tree.

"Isn't that the tree where you guys first met?" May said in awe.

Dawn nodded her head, a smile still on her face. "Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?"

"It is!" May said, looking over at Paul. "That's so sweet of you, Paul."

Paul ran a hand at the back of his neck, not sure of what to say to her. "Thanks, I guess."

He kept looking over at Ash who seemed like his mind was elsewhere.

Paul did find it unusual that Ash wasn't even talking up a storm like he usually does. He was all quiet and he looked depressed. But Paul could really care less though. He wanted Ash to be somewhere else and not around him or her.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Dawn asked.

"Oh, we're just walking around, exploring Times Square." May smiled. "Oh! But Drew got me some beautiful earrings along with a necklace. Do you want to see it?"

"Sure," Dawn said, sounding happy.

Paul folded his arms and leaned against a pole that was by the store Dawn wanted to enter. He kept his eyes on Dawn and he kept looking over at Ash too.

Ash better not do anything to ruin his night. He was already making things bad enough for even being there tonight.

"It cost me a lot of money," Drew said in an annoyed tone.

"Oh hush! It didn't cost over $100 dollars. So stop exaggerating," May said as she fumbled through her bag and found the necklace and earrings. "Here it is. I fell in love with the diamonds. I felt like it suited me well."

"Wow, its beautiful May." Dawn said in awe, looking at her jewelry.

Paul watched the girls as they discussed the jewelry and he also kept looking at Ash. It just really bothered him, Ash's presence being around. He always felt like Ash was a threat in his relationship with Dawn and he still felt that way. Though he knew Ash was Dawn's best guy friend, Paul still hated how close their friendship was. It always made him think Dawn might have feelings for him.

"Ash, are you okay?"

Paul snapped out of his thoughts as soon as he heard Dawn speaking to Ash. He looked over at them.

Ash shoved one hand in his jean pocket, looking at the ground and then slightly at her. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Dawn noticed he looked really sad or in deep thought about something. Whatever it was, it was obviously bothering him because he wasn't so happy, like how he usually is.

"No you're not. Obviously something's bothering you." She said, sounding concerned.

Paul hardened his eyes on them. Why was Dawn even concerned about Ash anyway? It was obvious he didn't want to talk about whatever the problem was, so why is she even bothering him?

"I'm fine, Dawn." Ash said, a small hint of attitude in his voice.

Dawn blinked, her face falling slightly blank. Paul noticed her face change, seeing that Ash probably ticked her off.

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the side, away from the small group.

"Okay, what's going on?" Dawn said lowly, an attitude in her voice as well. "And why are you even having an attitude? This isn't like you."

Ash kept a straight face and looked at the floor again. "You won't understand."

"I won't understand?" Dawn laughed at his comment. "I've been your friend for years and you're telling me what I won't understand?"

Paul felt his fist clench even tighter at the sight before him. Dawn seemed so bothered with Ash's behavior. Why did it have so much of an effect on her? It didn't many any sense. Today was supposed to be _their _day. Not her and Ash day.

"So how you been bro?" Drew said, patting Paul on the shoulder.

"Chillen," Paul mumbled, keeping his eyes on Dawn and Ash.

"It's Giselle… She's really driving me crazy." Ash sighed, looking at the store they were next to, though his thoughts were still fixed on Giselle. "I really like her, but she keeps pushing me away because of this guy she dealt with and I personally feel like she should get over it."

"Well, you can't make someone get over something if they don't want to." Dawn pointed out. "She's probably not comfortable with you yet."

"But I feel like she's being very selfish. It's kind of unfair when she kisses you and stuff, but when you try to build a relationship with her, she immediately wants out. Like why kiss me and lead me on if you don't even want a relationship with me? I get that she's hurt over what her ex did to her, but that doesn't give her the right to use me whenever she wants." Ash sighed as he shoved both of his hands in his pockets, still frustrated.

Paul's eyes hardened even more on them and Drew instantly noticed that Paul seemed very bothered by them.

"Hey Paul, I'm having a Spring Break party at the beach tomorrow. If you want to come." Drew announced, trying to get Paul to cheer up.

"Yeah, whatever." Paul mumbled, still having his eyes on Ash and Dawn.

"There's a hammock there if you want to use it." Drew added.

Paul looked at Drew as soon as he heard him mention a hammock. He knew exactly what Drew was trying to imply. The hammock, that's perfect for him and Dawn. "Sounds nice," he said, smiling slightly.

"I don't know, Ash. She seems like she really doesn't like you that way. I feel like she's playing you, no offense." Dawn frowned.

Ash chuckled lightly, not really liking Dawn's comment. "Yeah, whatever." He brushed past Dawn and walked over to Drew. "Hey Drew, what time is the party tomorrow? I'm about to leave."

"The party starts at eight." Drew told him.

Paul looked over at Dawn and saw that she was a bit sad when she walked back. Whatever it was that she talked about with Ash obviously bothered her and Paul didn't like that one bit.

"Alright, I'll be there." Ash left without saying bye. Paul did find it weird since he was always the type to say hello and goodbye. Whatever was bothering him must really be bad. But Paul rolled his eyes. He didn't care one bit about the guy.

Dawn dropped her arm to her side, holding her painting in her hand still. "Well, I'm going inside the chocolate store to find me a chocolate bar." She turned her body and soon walked into the store.

Paul noticed her mood change and he pushed himself off the pole he was leaning on and into the store, following behind her.

* * *

**A/N: Spring Break party huh. What you guys think is going to happen there haha?**

**It's sad that Ash feels like Giselle is using him, but you guys will find out more about them in the next chapter. More and more drama will come for all four of them! Paul and Dawn, and even Ash and Giselle.**

**Also, I still picture Veilstone City as New York City because that's the only city I'm familiar with lol.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Maniac by Michael Sembello, Skippin' by Mario**

**Remember to review!**


	14. Sapphire and Emerald

**A/N: I must say that the drama in this story is not over. There will be much more drama, a whole lot more lol. **

_**Sapphire and Emerald **_**symbolizes romance, love, happiness, and involvement.**

* * *

The day of the Spring Break party, everyone was turning up. Many girls were dressed in bikinis, some wearing shorts with their bikinis and some just wearing regular clothes. As for the guys, most were dressed in their swim trunks while some had on tank tops with their shorts.

The party was pretty lit. Many people had came to the party, there was lots of drinks, water, half naked girls, and loud music bumping through the speakers.

Giselle pushed her hair back and walked into one of the beach bars they had open.

"_You got me sippin' on something, I can't compare to nothing I've ever known, I'm hoping that after this fever, I'll survive."_

She had on a high waist kind of bikini which had been all black, she wanted to go to the beach comfortable and she personally liked that kind of bikini because it made her body look very nice.

Giselle stopped at the bar, looking at one of the bartenders that was working there. "Can I get a strawberry margarita?" She dug through her bikini top to pull out her money and handed it to the bartender.

The male bartender was flustered, an automatic blush forming on his face. "Uh yeah, sure!" he said, obviously sounding nervous. Giselle rolled her eyes as he turned around to fix her up a drink.

"Damn Giselle, you look fucking hot."

She turned her head to the right at the person who called her that, seeing there was a few guys looking at her like she was a piece of meat.

Since she was already leaning her right arm on the counter, she let her left arm's elbow rest on the counter and brought her hand up to wave at them, giving them a fake smile and then letting her left hand rest on her cheek.

"_The bed's getting cold and you're not here, the future that we hold is so unclear. But I'm not alive until you call and I'll bet the odds against it all."_

"Here miss," the bartender said, now handing her her drink.

Giselle took her drink in hand and began to twirl the straw around the glass for a bit, trying to get the flavor to mix up the way she liked.

The bartender cleared his throat, gaining her attention again. "Um, are you doing anything tomorrow?"

Before she could even answer that question, a voice stopped her. She felt the presence of someone else beside her.

"Yeah, she's going out with me."

She looked over at who it was and saw that it was just Paul. She raised her eyebrow at him.

Paul looked at her for a split second and then looked at the bartender again. The bartender pursed his lips awkwardly and walked away, deciding not to bother her anymore.

Giselle returned to twirling her straw around the drink. "What'd you do that for?" She mumbled, looking at her drink.

"You hate romance. I just did you a favor." Paul turned his body around and leaned against the counter, looking over at the crowd that was dancing and having a good time.

"_There's a million reasons why I should give you up, but the heart wants what it wa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ants."_

Giselle brought the drink up to her lips and took a small sip from her straw. She then looked over at Paul, taking a good look at him this time. He had on a plain white t-shirt along with palm tree swim trunks and he also had his hair pulled into a ponytail. "You look different," she said, removing her lips from the straw. "That hairstyle reminds me of your brother."

Paul rolled his eyes at her comment.

"It looks good on you." She took another sip of her drink and after swallowing the alcohol, she made a comment on what he was wearing. "This is the first time I see you without black clothing."

Paul smirked, still looking at the crowd of people turning up outside of the bar. "Well, it's the beach."

Giselle laughed lightly at his comment and took another sip of her drink.

Paul looked at her, viewing her attire and how she looked as well. "You look good too."

Giselle looked up at him and removed her lips from her straw.

"Yo look, the basketball team is here." A voice announced.

Giselle turned her head toward the crowd, as well as Paul. Her eyes instantly widened when she saw Ash and the rest of the gang. She really didn't want him to spot her at all because honestly she just wasn't in the mood to put up with him that night.

He's been bothering her for days with this romance stuff and she's sick of it, but then again she always found herself losing control whenever she was around him. She would always be so tempted to kiss him and do much more because that's how hot he is. But then again that made her wonder if that was the reason why he was so hooked onto the romance stuff anyway.

In panic, she grabbed Paul by his shirt and moved him behind her so he could block her body.

Paul was taken aback by her actions. "What are you doing?" He asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.

Giselle got up from her seat, careful to not be seen by Ash, using Paul as a shield. "Hiding, what does it look like I'm doing?" She rolled her eyes, continuing to look over his shoulder at Ash.

Ash wasn't looking towards the bar at all, he was busy outside talking to some of the people he found within the crowd, but his presence was still close to the bar and Giselle wasn't risking the chance of being seen by him.

"From who?" Paul said with a slight attitude, turning his shoulder to look at who she was hiding from, but she instantly grabbed him by his left shoulder and brought him to face her again. "Don't move," she ordered, looking over his shoulder once again.

Ash had a beer bottle in his hand and he brought it up to his lips and drunk some.

Giselle was a bit surprised by this. She didn't think Ash was the type to drink. "Oh, Pretty Boy drinks… that's five points for him."

Paul raised his eyebrow at her. "Are you talking about Ash?"

She rolled her eyes and looked at Paul. "Yes, I'm talking about him." She looked over his shoulder again.

Paul turned his shoulder again to see where Ash was, but Giselle immediately turned him back around to face her. "Can you stop?" She said in annoyance. "I really don't want him to know that I'm here, okay?"

"Why? This is the perfect place where you can actually get inside his pants."

"Yeah, but he isn't going to give it to me." She looked over his shoulder again at Ash. "He's driving me insane with this relationship stuff."

"So just give him a chance—" Paul spoke, but she interrupted him.

"No!" She said lowly and just for him to hear. "Are you crazy? I don't want to be his freaking girlfriend."

"You should. Obviously he's obsessing over you." Paul furrowed his eyebrows again. "If you go out with him then maybe he would finally get the hell out of me and Dawn's life."

Giselle groaned slightly, glaring at Paul. "Really, you want me to date him so he can leave you and Dawn alone?"

Paul nodded his head. "Yes! He's the reason why she and I had problems all this time."

"But that isn't going to solve anything," she argued. "You said so yourself that you think Dawn has feelings for him. What makes you think that if I date him, her feelings would change?"

Paul opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Exactly," Giselle rolled her eyes, looking over Paul's shoulder at Ash again.

"_Save your advice 'cause I won't hear, you might be right, but I don't care. There's a million reasons why I should give you up, but the heart wants what it wa-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ants."_

Paul groaned, becoming annoyed now.

Giselle continued to stare at Ash, seeing that he was still drinking his beer and chatting with his friends. She folded her arms over her chest. "There's no way in hell I'm letting him change me."

Paul rolled his eyes and looked at his left, he immediately spotted Dawn with May close by the shore.

She was wearing a cheetah print bikini with a white lace cover up shirt over it and some neon blue flip flops. She had her hair done very curly just like the last time he saw her and she even had a teal and aquamarine flower headband in her hair, complimenting her face. She looked absolutely stunning.

He turned his head to look at Giselle. "Hey, I'ma go, my girl just got here."

"W-Wait," Giselle grabbed him by his arm when he began to leave, causing him to look at her again. "He's still close by,"

"Listen, the only reason why he's so obsessed with this romance shit is because you keep leading him on. If you don't want to date him, stop leading him on." Paul moved his arm away from her grip and walked off to where Dawn was.

Giselle groaned, frustration now forming inside of her. "Thanks!" She said in annoyance, quickly turning her eyes back to where Ash was.

He was still looking at his friends and talking with them, so she took this as a chance to escape out of the bar the opposite direction.

* * *

Ash took another sip of his beer.

Everyone was having a great time at the beach party and he wanted to have a good time as well. He wanted to forget about Giselle just for a little bit, all he needed was a drink or two.

Suddenly a familiar song began playing, causing Gary and the rest of his basketball teammates attention. "Ash, that's your song!" One of them said out loud.

Ash brought the drink away from his lips and began to push through the crowd.

Gary pushed through the crowd as well.

Every time Ash's favorite song comes on, there's no stopping him when it comes to turning up.

"_Shawty, I don't… Miiind if you dance on a pole, that don't make you a hoe. Shawty, I don't… Miiiind when you workin' till three, if you're leaving with me. Go make that money, money, money."_

Immediately, girls started screaming with their drinks in the air.

Half naked girls were all around him, but he ignored it and began to dance with Gary beside him.

"_The ballers in here tonight, they gon' buy a hundred bottles. As soon as you shake it, I know they gon' make it colossal in here." _Ash sang, now bringing his beer bottle back up to his lips and chugged down some of the alcohol, still moving to the song.

That song was the only song that gave him enough energy to dance and sing. It was his absolute favorite.

He had some girls pressed up behind him while holding his beer in the air. Ash continued to dance though, not really caring that he had some random girls pressing up against him.

Ash wasn't drunk or anything, he knew what was happening around him, he just wanted to have a good time and the fact that his song was on, he did just that. Ash brought the drink to his lips again, dancing at the same time and chugging down his drink. The drink tasted really good, maybe because he was in such a good mood.

When he opened his eyes and looked at the girls in front of him, he instantly spotted Giselle farther within the crowd, her eyes on him. He furrowed his eyebrows together when he spotted her, seeing that she now began to leave, as if she didn't want him to see her there.

Ash was taken aback when he felt alcohol poured over his head and down his white tank top. He groaned when this happened, his hair was now soaked with alcohol and his shirt was now stained with alcohol. Ash shook his head and pushed his way out of the crowd in annoyance, deciding to follow after Giselle.

Yeah, he did want to have a good time at the party without Giselle getting in the way but as soon as he saw that she was there, he just had to see her.

Ash continued to push his way through the crowd, trying to figure out where she went.

As soon as he spotted her, he immediately grabbed her arm. "Giselle," he called.

Giselle whipped her head around, groaning. "What do you want?" She snatched her arm out of his grip.

"I just want to talk," he began.

She furrowed her eyebrows together and looked at his hair and his shirt. "You've got crap all over your head and shirt."

"I know, but that's not what I wanted to talk about." Ash sighed. Giselle rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, deciding to listen to him.

"I get that you hate relationships, but that doesn't give you the right to treat me like the way you do."

She made a face. "I gave you a chance to let me go, so what's the problem?"

"My problem is, I can't let you go." Ash told her in all seriousness.

"Why?" Giselle questioned with an attitude.

"Because I like you too much," he sighed. "And it just drives me crazy because I can't stay away from you."

Giselle laughed at his comment. "That's bullshit."

Ash raised his eyebrow.

"I'm no good for you and you know it. I don't know not one guy that wants to have a relationship with a girl like me. Ash, you know me and you know who I am. I am considered as a bad influence for someone like you,"

"Yeah, but I do know that you weren't always like this." He argued.

Giselle blinked, raising her eyebrow.

"I know, Giselle." He continued. "I know about Silas."

Giselle blinked again, taken by surprise with his comment. Her face fell blank and no words came out of her mouth. She had no idea that Ash would say something like that, better yet she had no idea that he even knew about her past.

Her lips trembled and her heart began to pick up. She instantly turned around and began to walk off, but as soon as she felt Ash grab her by the arm again, it was like a volcano exploded as soon as she turned around to look at him. "_You _don't know _shit _about me." She spat. "And you don't know _shit _about Silas. How dare you bring him up like you know him? You don't know anything."

"Actually, I do." Ash told her, seeing that he now made her angrier than ever. "Silas gave me the role of being team captain and he was also a very good friend of mines."

"Good friend?" Giselle laughed, "So you must know everything about me," she shook her head, chuckling lightly to herself and turned around again.

Ash grabbed her by the arm again, causing her to get even more upset. She whipped around in rage. "No!" she said in anger, an obvious hurt look now playing on her face. "You are _not _coming into my life to do the same things that he did to me." She looked at him with a serious look, as if she was looking into his soul.

Ash could tell that the mere mention of Silas really made her switch personalities very quickly, but he frowned. He didn't want her to think that he was anything like Silas. "Giselle. I'm not like him, I swear I'm not… I never knew who you were, I never knew who any of Silas' girlfriends were."

Angry tears was forming in her eyes and Ash didn't know what to do. He has never seen her so weak before until now. He always saw her as the type that never gave a shit about anything and was always in a good mood and strong, but seeing her now, like this? He knew, he just knew that Silas really ruined her.

"Trust me, if I ever was to see his face again, I will kill him." Ash told her in a serious tone. "I won't even think twice."

She blinked back those tears, trying her best to control herself. She looked down toward the floor and then at the other people partying, folding her arms slowly over her chest.

"I care about you Giselle." He told her, bringing his face closer to hers. "More than you think."

She turned to look at him again, deciding to not say anything.

"I know that he hurt you… but you need to stop letting him control you."

Giselle continued to look at him for a little while longer, in deep thought. She was looking at him with a pissed off look and he wasn't sure if she was going to say something nice or mean. But from the looks of it, she most likely looked like she was going to say something mean out of anger.

Just like he guessed, she scoffed, "God, I never knew anyone who was so determined to get what they want." She said angrily and walked off.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion as he watched her leave angrily.

"She is so stubborn..." he murmured. He let out a low sigh and decided to follow after her.

* * *

Paul held Dawn in his arms, looking up at the sky and at the stars with her. They were currently on a hammock, talking about life.

Music was playing smoothly in the air as they looked at the sky. Dawn smiled, feeling Paul's fingers in her hair, messing with her curls. She giggled lightly and Paul raised his eyebrow. "What?"

"It's nothing," she smiled, continuing to look at the sky. She began to get a little more comfortable on the hammock, using Paul as a pillow.

Paul smiled and pulled her closer to him. He loved being with her, everything about her always made him feel like he could be a better person. He always used to be so cold-hearted, but whenever she was around, she always made him feel different and much more happier.

"So what are your short term goals?" Dawn mumbled, curious.

Paul raised his eyebrow. "Short term goals?"

"Yeah," Dawn smiled, now looking down at her hands.

Paul began to think. "Well… I want to take you to my Senior Prom." He smiled. Dawn smiled at his comment as he continued. "And I want to celebrate my Graduation with you."

"Okay," Dawn smiled again, liking his answers. "How about your long term goals? What are your long term goals?"

"Well I see you in it," Paul told her. "I want us to have a son." Paul laughed, picturing what his son could be like. "I want a family."

Dawn smiled even more. She was surprised to hear Paul say that, to hear that he even wanted to have a kid and be a father. She liked the sound of that for the future, she wanted to be with him in the future and she could see herself marrying him and having a family like he wanted.

"I like that," she mumbled, still smiling and looking down at her hands.

"_Creeping, I can feel it breathing, calling to the surface, finally in my dreams."_

"How about you?" Paul questioned, curious to know what her goals were. "What are your short term goals?"

Dawn shrugged, giggling lightly at his comment and looking up at the night sky. "Well, I see myself with you, going to Prom and going to your Graduation and celebrating it. I also see myself getting into VDU."

VDU was short for Veilstone Dance University.

Paul smiled, "And how about your long term goals?"

Dawn began to wonder what the future would be like and she smiled again, "I see us married with a son and maybe a daughter. I also see myself as a famous dancer."

Paul couldn't tell the future, but if he could, he would most definitely make sure that those things will happen for them. He honestly wouldn't mind if it did because he loved her so much.

"_Sweet despair, feel you devour me... Ooooh Silently, oh won't you carry me… home?"_

Dawn continued to look up at the sky, a smile still on her face. She laid there on the hammock with him, staring at the sky for a little longer and then turned her head to him. Paul looked down at her, admiring her beauty. She looked so beautiful, he always felt chills inside of him whenever he made eye contact with her.

Dawn soon pressed her lips onto his, cherishing this moment with him. Paul kissed her back and slowly deepened the kiss.

"_Taken down, I give into what I can't disguise… Oooh I surrender, ooooh, I surrender."_

Paul wanted to deepen the kiss even more, but he felt her pull away. He furrowed his eyebrows together when he saw her jump off of him and ran towards the shore.

He saw as she was beginning to pull off her white lace cover up shirt and threw it towards the sand, continuing to run toward the water.

He smirked and got off the hammock as well, now chasing after her.

Paul took off his white shirt and threw it to the sand, continuing to run after her.

"_Broken down, I give into what I cannot have…Oooh I surrender, ooooh, I surrender."_

Dawn was caught in surprise when she felt his arms wrap around her in surprise, causing them to fall into the water and get wet on their bodies. She giggled lightly and screamed at the same time.

Paul felt her pushing him down into the water and was taken by surprise when she splashed water at his face. He splashed at her too, just to get her back.

They continued to splash water at each other, playing with each other and just having a good time for a while.

Paul was so in love with her, her smile, her hair, her eyes, he loved everything about her. He couldn't see himself with any other girl except for her, that's how much she meant to him. He could see himself marrying this girl and having kids with her, he can see himself having the perfect life with her, the life he had always wanted.

Paul stared down at her when she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared into his eyes. The water reached up to their chest at least, but Paul kept his eyes on her face. She looked so beautiful, especially since they were directly under the moon, so the moon complimented her face.

Dawn looked at his lips and then at his eyes.

"I love you," he mumbled, his eyes on her.

A small smile formed on her face and she exchanged glances from his lips to his eyes again. "I love you too." She slowly leaned in and pressed her lips onto his.

* * *

He had been following her on the beach, watching as she continued to walk on the sand, farther away from the party.

When he saw her coming to a stop, seeing as she now sat down on the sand, looking at the shore and also at the sky, he walked up to her and took a seat next to her.

She was quiet and was looking at the water for a while as if she were in thought. Ash couldn't blame her though, especially since he brought Silas up. He knew that Silas would just make everything worse, but he didn't want her to keep letting Silas ruin her life. He knew that Giselle was once a good girl and he was dying to see that side of her.

"I loved Silas." She mumbled, staring at the water with a blank look.

Ash turned his head to her.

"I really did." She said, her voice sounding a bit shaky. "I was only fourteen… I wanted what every girl wanted, to feel what love was like. What I didn't know was that it could hurt so much…"

Ash continued to look at her. He knew she was hurting and he wanted her to let out all the pain she held in for such a long time.

"I don't know what I did that made him do those things… Cheat on me… post those pictures of me…"

Tears began to fill in her eyes again, now slowly falling from her eyelids and down her cheeks.

"I just wanted him to like me," she laughed lightly, her lips now returning to a firm line. She looked at the sand and buried her hands into it. Ash continued to look at her, watching as she played with the sand in deep thought.

"I've been called a whore, a slut…" More tears were beginning to fill in her eyes as she struggled to continue with her sentence. "And a lot of those crazy things. I've been treated like a toy, from many guys and girls…" she continued to play in the sand with her hands, her eyebrows furrowed together. "Every guy I came across after him all wanted sex from me. Every girl I came across either wanted sex from me or to just harass me." She licked her lips as tears fell from her eyes. "All the guys felt I was easy, and almost all the girls felt disgusted with me. I even lost my best friend because of him." She bit down on her lip as she remembered that day she ended her friendship with Leaf.

Ash knew she was hurting very bad and he wanted to do something, but he knew that nothing he says or does will make up for what happened to her.

"Look at what he did to me. All I do is have sex with every guy I see." She shook her head, looking at Ash. "Maybe it's true, you know… maybe I am a whore like everyone says I am."

"No you're not," he argued.

Giselle kept her eyes on him. "I am," she nodded, but Ash could tell that she didn't want to admit that.

Ash stared at her for a little longer. "You're afraid of falling in love with me, aren't you?"

She looked at him and looked at the sand again.

"You're afraid the past is going to repeat itself," he continued.

Giselle began to grow a little uncomfortable at his comment and she got up. Ash noticed she got up and saw she was beginning to walk away again. He got up as well and followed her. "You're afraid because you know I will treat you the way you deserve to be treated, but you feel like I will betray you just like he did."

"I just feel like you should find someone else who's willing to be in a relationship." She mumbled, continuing to walk.

Ash quickly caught up to her, stopping her from walking elsewhere.

Giselle sighed and looked at him. "You're not fooling anybody here because I know you have feelings for me, Giselle. It may not be love, but I know you have some kind of feeling."

"God, you are so annoying." She rolled her eyes, becoming irritated. "I don't get you at all. There's no guy in this world that wants to be in a relationship with a girl like me. Guys don't date girls who are all about sex, they just use them and they don't think of them as relationship material. But you on the other hand are so freaking stupid that you actually think I'm _relationship material._" She made a face at him. "Come on, Ash, I know you're not that stupid."

Ash stared at her, not knowing what to say to that.

"You suck horribly at choosing girls if you choose me." She told him.

Ash didn't know what to think because he knew she was right. Guys don't date girls that are like her, no guy dates a girl like that, even he wasn't like that, but he knew that she wasn't always like that kind of person, so that made him think otherwise. The only reason why she's behaving terribly is because of what Silas did to her and Ash understood that she is only behaving this way because she's afraid to fall in love, she's afraid to fall for the wrong guy again, and she's afraid to meet another Silas.

"And I know I was wrong for leading you on all this time, but you really need to find someone who wants a relationship, because honestly I don't." She shook her head and brushed past him again, not really in the mood to deal with his stupidity.

She just really wanted him to leave her the hell alone. Now that he knows her past, why does he keep bothering her? It was driving her insane and Giselle immediately wished that she never agreed to help Paul with his relationship with Dawn. If she never got involved with his relationship, then she really wouldn't have to be dealing with Ash and she can go on with her life peacefully.

"I'm not gonna turn away till you actually give me a chance at friendship at least." Ash finally said.

Giselle rolled her eyes as she continued to walk. "Well I guess you're gonna have to be waiting forever, Pretty Boy."

Ash raised his eyebrow and he stopped in his tracks.

Pretty Boy...

He took a moment to think about that comment, watching as she walked off. He licked his lips and a small smile formed on his face. "Okay," he said, now continuing to follow her again.

* * *

They were in the water, but they got out after a while and decided to look at the beautiful night sky again. Dawn was laying on the sand, looking at the stars and the moon, while Paul sat beside her with his right leg up, his arm resting over his knee and looking at the sky as well.

Dawn continued to look at the sky, in deep thought. "I'm going to audition again."

Paul raised his eyebrow and turned his head to her. "But you just auditioned last Friday."

She shrugged, her eyes still remaining on the sky. "I'm sure VDU is holding auditions again sometime during the summer, or something."

"Yeah, but what are you gonna do about that man with the glasses?" He asked her, a bit curious what she had in mind. "He was acting like a dick."

"He said that if I was good enough, I wouldn't need a dance partner. He's right though, I always need help." She mumbled, her mind focused on that man's comment. "If I want to make it, I need to start practicing on my own and learning new dances on my own."

Paul stared at her for a short while, listening to those words. He liked to hear that because he knew how much she loved dancing, he wants her to work hard for her what she wants and to never give up.

"You'll make it," he told her, "I know you can."

Dawn smiled at his comment, now looking at him. "Thanks for believing in me."

Paul smiled at her and moved his body down to kiss her, receiving a kiss back from her.

He felt her hand rest on the back of his head, bringing him closer to her. Her hair was wet and so was her bikini, but his hair was wet also and so was his swim trunks. Dawn surprised him when she slipped her tongue into his mouth, but Paul acknowledged it and let his tongue pass over hers. They French kissed for just a moment and Paul stopped to move his lips down toward her neck, his hand now moving down her body, toward her waist.

Her quiet moan was enough to make the moment hot and sensual. He really liked being in moments like this with her because he never had moments like this at all with her, he waited a while to get intimate with her and now that she's letting intimate moments happen, he just couldn't resist.

Paul moved his lips down her stomach, kissing on it. He loved the feel of her skin against his lips, it just felt so soft to him.

Dawn moved her hands through his wet hair, quietly moaning as he moved further and further down.

She frowned a bit when she felt his lips moving back up her stomach, toward her breasts and her neck. Paul kissed her neck more and then lifted his head up to look down at her, admiring her beautiful face.

"I want to, but anybody can see us." He sighed.

Dawn kept that frown on her face, looking at him. "Everyone is at the party. No one is worrying about us."

"True, but there are some people that also walk away from the party like how we did." He smirked, giving her a peck on the lips.

She giggled against his lips. "You're right,"

Paul smiled and touched the side of her face for a bit, staring at her. He then moved off of her and sat beside her like he did a moment ago.

Dawn looked up at the sky, deciding to stay there lying down on the sand and to look up at the night sky. She began to stare at it for a while.

"Paul, do you ever wonder what it'd be like in heaven?"

Paul shrugged, looking up at the sky. "I don't believe in that kind of stuff," he mumbled.

"Oh yeah," she said, remembering that Paul is an Atheist, unlike his brother Reggie, Reggie is a Christian.

She never liked to put him in an uncomfortable situation ever, especially when it came to those kind of topics.

"But I'm guessing that it would probably be like how it looks here, but prettier." Paul added, now looking at her.

Dawn smiled. Though he didn't have the same beliefs as her, he still respected her beliefs and she respected his. She liked that a lot about him.

"I guess so," she smiled, still looking at the sky.

Paul stared down at her, now in deep thought.

For some reason, Ash entered his thoughts.

The only reason why he even felt so threatened by Ash in the first place is because he is afraid that he's going to lose her. Paul couldn't even begin to think if she had chosen Ash instead of him. Though he knew Ash didn't have feelings for her at all, he knew that Dawn may have them.

That conversation that he had earlier with Giselle really made him think. She's right, even if she does date Ash, that wouldn't change Dawn's feelings for him, but Paul wasn't even certain for sure that she even has feelings for that guy. If Dawn has feelings for Ash, what is she doing here with him and not Ash?

Paul took a moment to think about their current days. She was spending a lot of time with _him, _not Ash, and they've gotten stronger again. He hasn't been this close with her in a while, now that he's thought about it, he hasn't been this close with her for about seven months. Maybe he was seeing things and she really doesn't look at Ash that way, but Paul honestly didn't know. He wished that he was able to read her mind.

Paul continued to stare at her and mumbled, "Promise me you won't leave me."

Dawn continued to look at the sky and slowly moved her hand into his. "I promise," she sighed, closing her eyes shut.

* * *

**A/N: I proofread this chapter like three times and I was going to proofread again today, but I just got home like around 12 pm from Band Camp and my body is sore af. I'm very tired, so I just want to sleep. I might proofread again, idk it depends.**

**Songs used in this chapter: The Heart Wants What it Wants by Selena Gomez, I Don't Mind by Usher ft. Juicy J, Surrender by Digital Daggers (non-piano version)**

**Leave reviews!**


	15. Violet Blue

**A/N: Hey yall. I just want to say this chapter includes a lot of dirty talk and when I mean dirty talk, I mean sexual talk lmao and slight little sexual scenes. Nothing too crazy. I promise.**

_**Violet Blue **_**symbolizes intensely passionate feelings, happiness, relaxed, and pleasant moods.**

* * *

Pulling the laptop closer to her on her lap, Dawn typed in a reason why she should be given another shot at Veilstone Dance University. They was holding just one more audition after the week of Prom and Dawn just had to take this shot and book another audition. She wanted this so bad and she wanted to get in. Dancing meant a lot to her and she wanted to go far with it.

After typing in a good enough response for why she should be given another shot, she clicked send and hoped to receive good feedback. Instantly, she minimized the tab and closed her laptop shot.

The first thing she had in her mind was to practice, so she grabbed her radio in hand and got up from her bed, beginning to head out of her room.

"Mom, I'm going to practice outside!" She shouted loud enough for her mother to hear.

Her mother had been in her room, either watching tv or just laying down and being lazy. "Alright," she said.

Dawn walked downstairs and immediately walked out of the house.

It only took her a few minutes to enter the main parts of the city, and she stopped at this one building where it had a nice view on the rooftop, plus it was easy for her to get up there and she personally liked practicing up there anyway because the view of the city was enough for her to get motivated to dance.

When she found a shortcut toward the roof top, Dawn placed her radio down on the floor at a small corner and instantly pressed the on button. The song she wanted to practice to was already inserted. She wanted to do a combination of dances, something unique and unusual. She just wanted to be different and she most definitely wanted to make it.

Dawn walked toward the middle of the rooftop, beginning to get ready as she waited for the song to get to the part she planned to dance to.

She stared hard at the city, looking at all the buildings and everything. It felt really good outside and the window was flowing through her hair nicely. She had on a white tank top and black shorts with black converse and her hair was put up in a ponytail. She wanted to be comfortable, especially since it was about 87 degrees outside.

"_In this very moment, I'm king, in this very moment I slay Goliath with a sling, in this very moment I bring, put it on everything that I will retire with the ring."_

Dawn began to let her body do various moments. She started from hip hop moments such as popping her body and locking it at the same time with the beat, letting her mind do whatever felt right. She continued to pop and lock and started to move to street jazz, making sure she was on beat and wasn't missing a thing.

"_And I will retire with the crown, yes. No, I'm not lucky, I'm blessed, yes. Clap for the heavy weight champ, me. But I couldn't do it all alone, we."_

The song was somewhat different to how she usually dances with the marching band, but she kept herself focused, continuing to pop and lock her body. She also transitioned to house and rave dance, keeping herself on beat and focused.

The weather felt good and she felt just great on the roof, the sun wasn't so hot and the wind was blowing against her with each movement she did. She needed this.

"_Ain't being cocky, we just vindicated best believe that what we done this moment will be syndicated, I don't know. This night just remind of everything they deprived me of."_

Dawn began to transition to belly dance, moving her hips from side to side, locking it and hitting the beat. She felt good. She even added a bit of salsa dancing into it to spice up the song a bit. She felt like she could add just about anything to make something look good.

She felt the wind rush towards her as she now twirled her body around completely.

"_I wish that I could have this moment for life."_

While Dawn was dancing and doing her own thing, Paul was at his place and he brought his blunt up to his lips and inhaled a lot of smoke. He was outside in front of his building, looking at people walking across the streets, talking with each other, or just walking inside of stores nearby. He blew out the smoke from his mouth and let it flow into the air.

"_Cause in this moment I just feel so alive."_

Dawn transitioned to ballet dance, now regaining her breath and moving in a comfortable way. She knew that if she practiced more than just one kind of dance, she would most definitely make it into VDU and that was her dream.

"_Well I tell them hoes bow, bow, bow to me, drop down to your knees."_

Paul pulled out his phone and instantly sent a text to Dawn. He was wondering what she was up to that morning and he was in the mood to speak to her anyway. Reggie was inside the house doing lord knows what, but knowing him, he was probably cooking up some breakfast and smoking at the same time.

"_Shout out to the CEO, 500 degrees. Shout out to the OVO Red wings and Fatigues, ah."_

Dawn was now back to doing hip hop movements. The way the song worked was very tricky, but she kept switching from one dance move to another in order to be perfect. Whatever felt right was what exactly she did. She just needed to be perfect and she knew that she would just make it.

"_A young king, pay me in gold. Forty got a bunch of weed, he ain't even rolled."_

Paul licked his lips once more and brought the blunt back up to his lips. He assumed that Dawn must have been asleep since it was pretty early. He shook his head though and put his attention toward his surroundings, looking at the city.

"_Yeah, be very afraid. These other rappers getting bodied and carried away. Fuck it, me and Nicki nick getting married today and all you bitches that be hating can catch the bouquet."_

It was the first day of actually practicing since her last dance and she felt like she was doing a great job. But this was the first day, so she wasn't exactly perfect like the way she pictured, but she knew that practice always makes perfect.

"_I swear, damn, this one for the books. Man, I swear this shit is as fun as it looks, man. I'm really trying to make it more than what it is cause everybody dies but not everybody lives."_

Paul got up from the floor and started heading toward his building.

"_Cause in this moment I just feel so alive."_

Dawn now moved to ballet dance again, knowing that ballet dance suited well for the chorus at least.

"_I wish that I could have this moment for life."_

Paul pulled out his keys with his right hand and opened the door to his room while holding his blunt in the other hand.

"_This is my moment, I just feel so alive."_

Dawn slowed down her moves when the song now became slow.

"_This is my moment, I waited all my life, I can tell it's time.."_

Dawn twirled her body around slowly with this part of the song, deciding to let out short breaths of air with every twirl she did, careful to not be anywhere near the edges of that roof.

"_Drifting away, I'm one with the sunsets, I have become alive."_

After doing one last twirl, Dawn sighed heavily as she let out short breaths of air, now walking over to where she left her bag at along with her phone.

She needed to take a small break and drink some water.

Dawn grabbed her bag and grabbed her phone, wanting to check the time, but she was surprised to see a text from Paul.

_**Thinking about you.**_

She raised her eyebrow and blushed lightly. What was he doing up so early? Shaking her head, she sent a quick text back.

_**Since when are you up so early?**_

Dawn smiled and put the phone back inside her bag before grabbing her water bottle and drinking some water. She didn't bother to check her phone again, instead she put her water bottle into the bag along with her phone and started to get ready to practice again.

* * *

She spent at least two hours and a half to practice and she felt like she did a great job that morning. It was the first day of official practicing, but she felt like she was doing great.

Dawn haven't exactly known what song she wanted to use for her next audition, she just knew that she wanted to experiment with different kinds of song in order to figure out which one she wanted to use.

After placing her bag on her bed, Dawn grabbed a pair of clothes and also her towel. She needed to take a shower because she was smelling really bad, she had been sweating all morning and she really needed to wash up.

Dawn walked into the bathroom and instantly took off her clothes. She turned the shower on and jumped in, making sure to pull her hair out of its tie and tossing it to the floor.

She took at least a ten minute long shower, wetting her hair and all. She raised her eyebrow when she heard her phone ringing, surprised that anyone would be calling her at such an early time too.

Dawn sighed and turned off the shower, pulling the shower curtain to the side and grabbing her towel to wrap around her body. As she took a step out of the tub, she grabbed her phone, only to see that she received a missed call from Paul and also two text messages from him.

_**Since now. **_ He sent that one earlier that day.

_**Wyd babe? **_He sent that one at least five minutes ago.

Dawn stared down at the phone and then slowly looked up at herself at the mirror, seeing that her hair was drenched and she was wrapped in a towel.

She stared hard at herself and then looked down at her phone.

A small thought came up to her head and she immediately grew excited as she now bit down on her bottom lip.

_Oh Paul is going to love this, _She grinned.

* * *

Paul had his hair out completely, deciding not to put it up into any ponytail that morning. He was in the living room with Reggie, smoking like they always do.

Reggie was busy smoking the bong, while Paul decided to just smoke his blunt.

"I need to get some more weed from Trip," His brother mumbled after blowing out smoke into the room.

"From that blonde guy, the one that always likes taking pictures with his stupid camera?"

"Yeah," Reggie mumbled, bringing the bong toward his lips.

"He's so gay," Paul brought his blunt up to his lips and inhaled smoke.

"Yeah, but he sells us some good ass shit. Can't argue with that," Reggie mumbled.

Paul shook his hand and he immediately felt his phone vibrating from his pants, he pulled it out, while pulling the blunt away from his lips and letting the smoke out into the air. He lifted his phone up to his face and he became instantly flushed with what he was seeing on his phone.

"Woah," he called out.

Reggie raised his eyebrow, pulling the bong away from his lips and blowing out lots of smoke. "What?"

Paul blinked again, looking at his phone and then looking at his brother. "Uh… I need to get something. I'll be right back." He got up and started to head toward his room.

As soon as he got into his room, he closed the door and locked it.

Paul looked at his phone again, his cheeks turning red.

Dawn had sent him photos of herself naked and he felt himself immediately growing hot. The first photo she sent him was one of her breasts and he was staring at them pretty hard, wanting to suck them so badly right now. The next one was of her bare ass and he licked his lips hungrily when he stared at that one.

Paul let out a shaky breath, feeling himself growing inside his pants. God, why is Dawn doing this to him?

Without thinking, he instantly called her.

He waited for her to answer and he just knew that she wanted to play some sort of game with him.

"Hello?" she said, sounding obviously seductive.

Paul felt a chill run down his spine. "Are you trying to make me go crazy?" He said lowly, making sure Reggie wouldn't hear as he slowly walked over to his bed.

He heard her chuckle. "I was hoping I would." She whispered in a sensual tone. "Do you like those pictures?"

"I fucking love them." Paul groaned lightly, sitting down on his bed.

"Are you alone?" She asked, curious.

"Yeah," he licked his lips, feeling himself growing even more inside his pants.

"What do you want to do to me Paul?" She asked sensually. Paul began to wonder where she was and what she was doing.

Was she trying to have phone sex with him? Whatever it was, he felt it was fucking hot.

"I want to fuck you till your legs are trembling." He breathed, looking down at his pants.

"Mmmm," she said, sounding like she was moaning.

Paul licked his lips again, becoming turned on by the sound of her voice. "Are you naked?" he asked her lowly, curious.

"Yeah," she responded. "And I'm all wet… just the way you like it."

Dawn bit down on her lower lip, pulling the towel she had around her body to the side and sat down on her bed. She knew that she was making him very excited and she loved it.

"Damn," he said. Dawn smiled when she heard him.

"What do you want me to do, Paul?" She purred, now laying her body down on the bed.

"I want you to grab your breasts." He instructed.

She licked her lips and grabbed her breasts, the feel of her hands on her breasts making her body really hot.

"What now?" she breathed, closing her eyes shut.

"Now move one hand slowly down your stomach," he continued.

"Okay," Dawn moved her hand slowly down her stomach.

"Good girl," She heard him groan. "Now put two fingers inside of you."

She inserted two fingers into her and was surprised by how wet she was. Paul was making her really horny and she wanted him there with her. She moaned lightly as she let her fingers move around inside of her, soaking her fingers.

Paul breathed in a hot way, which turned her on even more. "I wish I was over there to fuck you," he growled.

Dawn moaned in response, plunging her fingers in and out of her. "Fuck me, Paul." She moaned lightly, feeling herself closing around her fingers. She has never had phone sex before at all, but she liked this and she really liked doing this with him.

Paul whipped out his dick and began to jerk off as he listened to her moaning in the phone. "I want to eat you out," he said huskily.

By the sound of that, Dawn felt herself becoming even more hot. She wanted him there to eat her out, she was hot to have his tongue moving against her pussy. The way his tongue moves on her felt like paradise to her.

Dawn licked her lips. "Paul," she moaned his name.

"Yeah baby," he breathed, liking the sound of his name rolling off her tongue like that.

Dawn circled her throbbing wetness, purring quietly at the sensation. "Paul, I want you here."

Paul jerked himself off fast, thinking of Dawn and her body and how much he wanted to fuck her at the moment. "I want to watch you please yourself." He groaned. "I'm sure it'll be fucking hot."

"Mmmm," she moaned. "I'm soaked, Paul."

Paul licked his lips as he continued to jerk off, thinking of her naked and her fingers inside of her. "I'll lick you clean," he told her.

"Paul, I want you inside of me." Paul could hear how hard she was moaning. He assumed that she was close to cumming and he was getting so turned on by that.

"Cum for me baby," He instructed.

Dawn whimpered as she pounded her fingers roughly in and out of her, imagining Paul inside of her and his lips all over her body. She rocked her body against her fingers and cried out a soft moan, moaning his name in the process.

Paul groaned almost hungrily.

"Fuck, you sound sexy." He growled.

"Mmmm," Dawn moaned again.

It only took Paul a few moments to cum as well and he breathed. "Taste yourself," he instructed.

She licked her lips and then brought her fingers up to her mouth, she swirled her tongue around her fingers, moaning lightly in the process. She made sure to withdraw it with a popping noise to ensure that he knew she had followed his direction.

She heard him growl under his breath in response.

"How do you taste?" he wondered. "I bet you taste like sour candy. Which is my favorite."

Dawn giggled in response, realizing that his description of it was probably the most accurate way to describe it. "Sort of,"

"Well you taste fucking good. I would eat you out for hours," Paul groaned again.

"I love the way you talk like that," she mumbled, bringing her hands back to her stomach and stared up at the ceiling.

Paul smirked, though Dawn couldn't see what he was doing. "I didn't know you could be so naughty, Dawn."

Dawn giggled lightly, biting down on her lower lip. "You make me hot," she whispered. "I want to taste you too. I want to suck you off,"

He groaned in response and she smiled. "Are you touching yourself?"

Paul chuckled at her comment. "I came at least three times already."

Dawn smirked. "I'm sure my mouth stroking up and down your dick would feel much better than your hand."

She heard him groan again and she laughed lightly at this.

"It would feel even better if you were riding my face with that delicious pussy of yours." He growled.

Dawn bit down on her bottom lip, a blush falling on her face. "You are so freaky,"

Paul groaned again.

"I want to do this all with you right now… can you come by later?"

Paul smirked at this. He knew she was obviously horny for him and he liked that. His own girlfriend horny for him? That was so hot.

"Sure, but we have to be really quiet." He told her.

Dawn laughed at his comment, looking up at her ceiling again. "There's no need to worry. Mom is working later, so we can have as much fun as we want."

Paul licked his lips and looked down at his pants. "Alright,"

* * *

Letting out a nervous sigh, Ash squeezed the handle of the basket he was holding tightly as he stood in front of Giselle's door. She lived in one of the apartments within the city, just a few blocks down from their school.

He knew that she wouldn't want to see him, but he wanted to see her. He made her a basket of cookies and he hoped that she would like it. He was always known as a reckless cook and this time he tried making them from scratch and he felt like they tasted fine to him, so hopefully she'll like it.

A second later, the door flew open. Giselle furrowed her eyebrows together as if she were in shock. She had her hair pulled into a messy ponytail with a light pink tank top and black shorts. Ash was taken by surprise when he noticed she didn't even have any make up on either.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" She said lowly, as if she didn't want anyone to hear her.

"I just wanted to come by and give you something," he gulped lightly, reaching his basket out to her.

Giselle kept her hand on the door and took a split second to look at the basket and then look back at him. "I told you, I don't do romance."

"I know," Ash sighed. "I'm not trying to force you into anything. I just want to be friends."

Giselle kept her eyes hard on him. Ash kept his arm out with the basket, beginning to feel slightly awkward when she kept staring at him that way.

"And how the hell do you know where I live?" She asked, her tone obviously sounding demanding.

"I asked Leaf." Ash told her.

"Great," She rolled her eyes, now folding her arms over her chest. She took a moment to stare at the basket he was holding out again. "What's in the basket?"

"Chocolate chip cookies."

She raised her eyebrow.

"I made them myself." He smiled.

She couldn't help but let out a light laugh, finding it a bit amusing that he even made her cookies.

"Giselle, quien esta en la puerta?" A voice called from inside. By the sound of it, it sounded like her mother, but she sounded very upset and also drunk by the tone of her voice. Ash had no idea what the woman was saying though, but it really sounded like she was speaking Spanish.

Ash looked at Giselle and saw that she was a bit uncomfortable with him hearing her mother. "It's nobody," she mumbled as she took a step outside and closed the door behind her. He raised his eyebrow, wondering what's going on, but he decided not to even bother.

Giselle took the basket from his hands. "Thanks," she looked up at him. "You should go now."

"I wanted to stay and talk for a little bit."

She shook her head and looked at him with a serious look again. "Look, if you really want to be my friend, you should go."

Ash stared at her for a little bit and looked down again, sighing slightly. He wanted to stay and talk to her for a little while, but he knew something was going on with her and her mother, it was obvious by how she was demanding him to leave. Then again, he wondered if she was just being that way because she really doesn't want to talk to him.

"Alright," he sighed as he now began to turn away, but he instantly remembered something.

He shoved his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a wrapped up piece of paper, handing it to her. "Cheerleading tryouts are happening again when Spring Break's over."

Giselle blinked, staring at him with a questionable look as she took the paper from his hands slowly.

"I know you were once a cheerleader before and I know that you loved doing cheerleading, so you should do it again." He told her.

She opened the piece of paper and saw that it was a flyer of the tryout dates. She stared at it hard in thought, not saying a word.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I just thought that you would probably be interested." He gulped slightly again, looking at her.

When he noticed that she just kept staring at the paper, not saying anything, he decided to leave now so she can be left in peace with her thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: Short chapter. But it needed to be short, for certain reasons.**

**I would just like to point out that Giselle is half Hispanic, that's why her mother speaks to her in Spanish and stuff and also that's why Giselle loves listening to Spanish music all the time.**

**Also, I hope you guys are enjoying Paul and Dawn moments. There's a reason why I'm writing so many happy and fun moments with them because well… you guys will just have to keep on reading to see what happens next! I don't wanna spoil anything. (:**

**Songs used in this chapter: Moment for Life by Nicki Minaj ft. Drake**

**Don't forget to review! **


	16. Gray

**A/N: I love the feedback I'm getting for this story, especially the comments on my writing style! Makes me really happy, especially since I really do plan on becoming an author someday.**

_**Gray **_**symbolizes doubt, worry, and fear.**

* * *

The brunette took a closer look inside the gym, seeing her old cheerleading friends sitting in a row together behind a table as they decided who they should put on the team. Girls were going in one by one, including guys.

That's one thing she liked about her school the most, they included guys on the team.

She sighed lightly though as she saw a girl they rejected walking toward the entrance doors of the gym. Giselle squeezed her physical paper in her hand tightly and looked down at the floor before looking up again as she saw the girl approach the door.

The last time she cheered was when all the bad things happened to her and just by recognizing some of the old cheerleaders, she wasn't sure if they would even let her back on the team.

God, why did she even listen to Ash in the first place? Giselle shook her head.

The girl pushed the doors open and looked at Giselle with a serious face. "Good luck, they're _very _judgmental," she rolled her eyes and brushed past her.

Giselle looked back slightly at the girl and then turned her head forward to look at the gym again. She inhaled a sharp breath, squeezing her physical paper once more before stepping into the gym.

Her whole body felt like it was closing with each step she took as she approached the table filled with cheerleaders. The cheerleaders suddenly became quiet when they noticed it was their old team member, some of them in shock and some of them gossiping about her. Giselle kept a straight face though, making sure to approach them with confidence.

She pursed her lips and stood in front of them.

One of the cheerleaders, Yvette, a girl she used to be friends with, spoke up. "Whores on the team are strictly forbidden."

Giselle raised her eyebrow at her and gave her a small fake smile. "How so? You slept with Frank and also um—" she looked over at one of the male cheerleaders sitting two seats down from her. "—Jose and Michael," she looked back over at Yvette, hardening her eyes slightly on her. "So if it is forbidden, how come you're on the team?"

Yvette was taken by surprised by her comment, so she remained quiet.

"That's what I thought," Giselle rolled her eyes and handed Justice, the team captain, her physical. Justice was the girl Silas cheated on her with and since then Giselle hated her ass. She used to be one of her closest friends on the team but she turned out to be a complete bitch.

Justice looked down at the paper and then back up at her, making a face. "I can't accept this."

"Why not?" Giselle furrowed her eyebrows together at the red head, Justice. "I filled out the form and everything."

"Yeah, but I don't want you on my team." Justice told her in a serious tone.

Giselle raised her eyebrow at her, now starting to become upset. "Look, I know I dropped out a long time ago, but for real give me a god damn break. You're only team captain because I left and if I would've stayed, I would've never handed you my place."

"Well, you left honey." She smiled at her. Giselle could tell that smile was so fake and she wanted to go across the table and rip her face off, but she controlled herself. "So I rule this team now. I don't want no skank like you on my team. You are a joke and you know it,"

"Bitch, you're the joke—" Giselle started, but was quickly interrupted.

"Face it Giselle, you're not good enough for the team, so you should leave now." Justice looked back down at her papers, and Giselle kept her eyes hard on her.

"Oh, fuck you Justice." Giselle spat, causing all eyes to look at her in surprise, but she honestly could care less. "You think I'm not good enough just because I've slept around?"

Silence was the only answer she received in return. Giselle shook her head. "Well, newsflash Justice, you're not so perfect either. You fucked my boyfriend, did you get forget? Pretending like you were some god damn saint." She continued, "At least I'm not a boyfriend stealer. And yeah, I may have let myself go over fucking Silas, but to be fucking honest, you and him can go the fuck to _hell_. You _deserve _each other."

"Awww. Still sad because he broke your little heart and posted all those photos of you on Instagram?" Justice laughed and shook her head. "You obviously had it coming. What dumbass sends nudes of themselves anyways? It was obviously going to end up on social media." She shook her head, still laughing.

Giselle could feel tears filling in her eyes, but she instantly blinked them back. She refused to show weakness in front of that bitch or in front of anyone in that matter. She had worked so hard to be strong and take in everything all at once, so why should she feel weak now? She could take this. She is Giselle freaking Ainsworth for crying out loud.

Giselle let out a low breath of air and quickly pulled herself together. "Real captains don't judge people based off their personal lifestyles. This is about cheerleading, not no fucking reality drama show. Nobody is perfect in this world and neither are you Justice." She said with a harsh attitude. "When I was captain, I let anyone in despite their imperfect personalities. Did you really think I cared about who they had sex with or if they had naked photos of them posted everywhere online or if they were straight or gay or if they weren't born normal?" She took a look around to see one of the girls she let on the team a while back. This girl she let on the team had down syndrome and her name was Faith. She always treated her good and with kindness, plus she was an excellent cheerleader.

Her anger grew more when she noticed Faith wasn't even at the table with the rest of the cheerleaders. "Where's Faith?" She demanded an answer, locking her eyes on Justice again.

"We let her slow ass go," Bianca, a brown haired cheerleader answered.

Giselle shook her head and looked over at the brown haired cheerleader, becoming upset at that comment. "How dare you call her slow? She isn't fucking retarded! Faith was the only girl on this god damn team that actually put in all her effort on being a cheerleader. She was a great cheerleader," she turned her eyes back on Justice. "And it really pisses me off that you let her go because she fucking has down syndrome!" Giselle shouted, her voice echoing throughout the gym.

"Sorry, but people like her don't belong on my team either." The red head mumbled, looking down at the papers again as she started scribbling down some words.

Giselle became really upset that she grabbed the paper she was signing and ripped it out of the clipboard and crumbled it up in her face, shooting a hard look on the red head. "That's okay, I don't want to be a part of your pathetic little cheerleading squad anyway. You are going to _rot_ Justice and I can't wait for that to fucking happen." She turned her body around and began walking toward the entrance of the gym and mumbled, "Fucking pendejos."

She was so pissed off and so hurt at the same time. The simple fact that a lot has changed with the team really pissed her off. First, they won't let her on the team because of fucking Silas and then they go and throw one of her favorite team members off the team? This was just great. Giselle wished she never let Ash talk her into this bullshit.

She pushed the double doors open harshly and walked out of the gym in anger, that paper she was holding still crumbled up in her hand.

As she began walking down the hallway, she found herself getting caught up with all of the frustration that she began letting tears fall from her eyes. She was just so pissed and so hurt how her whole life had changed into a disaster. Her alcoholic mother treats her like shit, her old friends treat her like shit, the whole school thinks she's a whore, and all she gets is being treated like shit. Giselle was getting tired of it, she was getting so sick and tired of Silas ruining her life.

"Giselle,"

She felt her body being whipped around and her anger only grew more when she noticed it was Ash, the guy who even talked her into the cheerleading thing anyway. "Get the _fuck _away from me." She ordered.

Ash blinked, a bit taken by surprise by the her tone of voice and how she was looking at him. He noticed she had been crying, seeing tear stains on her cheeks. "What happened?"

"What the fuck do you think happened?" She glared at him, crumbling the paper she had in her hand tighter. "I went to go and try out for the damn cheerleading team, but of course they turned me down." She shook her head. "Damn you," she spat, looking at him hard again. Ash saw that tears were beginning to blur her eyes again and he was beginning to feel bad. "I am tired of you trying to be a fucking hero for my life," she continued. "I want you _out _of it." She threw the crumbled up piece of paper at him and took a step back. "I don't want to be your friend or anything else. So you can get the fuck out of my life!" She turned her head and began running down the hall.

Ash stood there in the hall, watching as she left.

He frowned deeply as he looked down at the crumbled up piece of paper she threw at him on the floor.

Why was she getting so mad at him for? All he wanted to do was try and help her get back on her feet. That's all he really wanted to do from the moment he met her.

_I guess this is what I get for being a nice guy, _Ash thought. He frowned again and began to walk to his next class.

* * *

Paul felt himself slightly growing on the inside of his pants, looking down at Dawn. She had her left leg stretching far out on top of his shoulder and it almost looked like she was doing a split on him, but for some reason it really turned him on.

Dawn continued to stretch her leg out, letting out soft noises. The soft noises she was letting out really made him hot and he wanted to throw her on top of his bed right now.

This wasn't supposed to be any sexual moment at all, since she did tell him that she wanted to stretch a bit for her dances, but he had no idea it would turn him on.

Paul groaned slightly causing her to look up at him. She furrowed her eyebrows together, noticing that he was becoming aroused, so she dropped her leg from his shoulder to the floor and kept her eyes on him. "This isn't supposed to be sexy, Paul." She told him.

Paul opened his eyes in surprise, licking his lips innocently. "I know,"

She raised her eyebrow at him and slowly looked down toward his pants, noticing that he had one serious boner. "Really, Paul?"

Paul chuckled lightly, looking down at his pants too. "I can't help it. Your leg was stretching far out on me, I kinda liked it."

"Kinda?" She kept her eyebrow raised. "Your boner tells me otherwise." She giggled lightly and stood on her tippee toes to give him a kiss on the lips.

Paul smiled as she pulled away. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. I'll be right back," she said. He watched as she turned away and left to the bathroom.

When she left, he took a moment to look back down at his pants again and he began walking over to his bed. He was surprised with how far his dick was sticking out from his pants, but he chuckled lightly and took a seat on the bed.

He was caught by surprise when he heard Dawn's phone ringing and he looked over at his comforter, seeing her phone was caught in between the bed sheets. Curious of who it was, Paul grabbed her phone in hand and looked to see who had been calling her.

His face fell flat when he noticed it had been Ash calling her. And suddenly his whole mood changed right there.

Paul sat there, staring at the name for a little while longer before picking up the phone and placing it on his ear.

"Dawn? Hey, are you busy?" He heard the annoying basketball player say.

"Yeah, she's fucking busy. And she doesn't want to talk to you." Paul grumbled.

"Paul?" Ash sounded surprised. "Sorry, but this is really important. Can I please speak to Dawn?"

"No," he growled.

"Why not?"

"Because she's fucking busy. Now stop calling this number." With that he hung up, glaring down hard at her phone, now officially irritated.

Paul looked down at his pants again, seeing that his boner calmed down a lot now that he became upset.

"Paul, who was that?" Dawn asked, slowly stepping into the room. Paul looked over at her and saw a concerned look on her face. He kept a frustrated look on her though and then looked away, now getting up from the bed.

"Always in the fucking way…" he mumbled in anger.

She furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion, noticing his sudden change in behavior. She knew he was upset about something and it must have been the person that had been calling her phone. Curious, she went to grab her phone from his hand and checked to see who recently just called her. She was at a loss of words when she noticed it was Ash. So that was the person Paul was snapping at...

"Why the fuck is he calling and why do you even have his number?" Paul demanded.

Dawn stared at him, confused with his sudden outburst. She didn't understand why Paul hated him so much. She began to get upset at this. "He's my best friend, Paul." She said, answering his question.

"Well, I don't want you guys being friends anymore."

Dawn blinked, now becoming very angry. "What?" she let the word draw out, surprised to hear him say those words. "You can't make me stop being his friend, Paul, we've been friends for _years._"

"I can't handle you guys being fucking friends." He said in disgust. "I don't know if you realize this, but every time you're around him, I feel like your emotions are more real towards him and it really pisses me the fuck off—"

"Seriously? You s_till _think I have feelings for him? Come on now," She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm dating you! Not him! I've been with you for a long time! I'm crazy in love with you! I've fucking slept with you!"

"That doesn't prove _shit._" He snapped. "You wish it were him, instead of me. It's always been Ash and you know it. He's always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things. He's the one that you wish you were with, not me."

"I don't care if you're not like him! I don't want you to be like him!" She argued back. "I love you just the way you are, Paul. Stop worrying about Ash because honestly this is really ridiculous! Your jealousy on him really needs to stop now—"

"I am _not _jealous." Paul pointed out. That's one thing that Paul would most definitely disagree on. Jealous? No way.

"Yes, you are."

Was it really that obvious?

Paul grew even more frustrated and he brushed past her. "Whatever," he groaned, now looking through his dresser.

"I'm calling him back," she mumbled, now going through her phone again. Paul began to get even more upset at this, so he turned around to look at her.

"What, so he can calm you down and make you happy?"

Dawn stared at Paul, pulling the phone down. "You know what. If you're not going to trust me, that's okay." She searched around the room and gathered her things together.

"Where are you going?" Paul demanded.

"Home," she said angrily as she continued to gather her things together.

Paul was getting so frustrated at this, he hated the simple fact that Ash even called in the first place. If it wasn't for that damn basketball player, Dawn and him would be having a good time right now instead of fighting.

He knew she was going to leave and there was nothing he can do to stop her, especially after upsetting her with this. But he couldn't help himself, Ash just keeps getting in the way.

She began to head for the door, but she turned to look at him first. Paul looked at her and froze when he saw tears falling from her eyes. "When are you ever going to trust me?" She whispered. Paul was going to answer that, but she soon walked out of his room.

* * *

**A/N: Very short chapter. I was planning to write more for this, but I felt it should end here. **

**Um, firstly, I just want to say that this chapter leads up to the crazy things that are going to happen in the next upcoming chapters. I already wrote all the upcoming chapters, I just need to finish the last one being chapter 24. (;**

**Please leave me reviews and let me know all your thoughts!**


	17. Blood Red

**A/N: Many of you aren't gonna like what's going to happen further in this chapter, so I'm just warning you guys now. I have a feeling a lot of you are going to flip out, but trust me, it's really **_**not that bad. **_

_**Blood Red **_**symbolizes**** skeptical feelings, anger, and vengeance.**

* * *

Paul shoved his hands in his pockets, staring at Dawn at her locker. He knew what he did yesterday was out of hand, but he really didn't like Ash at all. He always felt some type of way about him and that will never change.

Paul sighed, remembering those tears he saw on her face last night.

Seeing her cry to him and saying those words to him really made him feel horrible on the inside. She believed that he doesn't trust her, but Paul loves her, he would do anything and everything for her.

Trust was something that Paul found difficult to have in someone, especially her. The only reason why he found it so difficult is because of Ash. His trust in her is always tested whenever Ash is around and the only reason why he felt it is tested all the time when he's around is because she acts very different when she's around that guy. Whenever she's around Ash, she is all of sudden happy, really happy, or either sad about something that's going on with him. Paul didn't like that at all. He understood that Ash was considered as her best guy friend, but Paul didn't like the fact that she felt very comfortable to talk about things with him more than she likes talking about things with her own_ boyfriend_.

Paul just wanted for Dawn to see her own actions whenever she's around Ash.

Yeah, Dawn has been very loyal to Paul, especially now since they've got back on good terms, but now it's going back to bad terms again all because of Ash. Paul always felt Ash ruins everything and he was getting tired of it.

Paul stared at Dawn as she got things out of her locker, deciding to cool down just a little bit.

He didn't want to lose her over some jealousy over that damn guy. Ash was obviously not into her and she was obviously stuck on Paul, so what exactly is the problem? Paul began to wonder if _he _was the problem.

Sighing, Paul walked over to her and stopped at the locker beside her, leaning against it. "Hey," he said lowly.

She turned her head to look at him and then looked back at the inside of her locker, organizing her stuff. "Hey," she said lowly.

"Listen, I'm sorry about last night." He mumbled. "I just… don't like him."

Dawn kept organizing her things, listening to Paul. "He talks just like my brother. Friends, trust. My brother says those things all the time too."

"But Paul, Ash isn't Reggie." She looked at him this time. "Ash is Ash and that's that."

"I know," Paul shoved one hand in his pocket, looking at her. "I'm just afraid of losing you, that's all."

Dawn licked her lips, continuing to organize her things as she got quiet, not sure of what to say to that.

Paul stared at her, watching as she organized her things. He wasn't sure what was going on through her mind, but he was hoping that she would forgive him.

After organizing her stuff, Dawn closed her locker shut and looked over at him. She was looking at him in deep thought about something. "I think… we need to take a break," she whispered. "Just for a little while…"

Paul furrowed his eyebrows together at that comment, not understanding what she was trying to do. "You're breaking up with me?"

Dawn looked down at her feet and then looked up at him, frowning. "I love you, Paul. But I feel like you need to trust me and I think that if we have some time apart from each other, it will give us enough time to fall back together."

Paul shook his head, not liking this at all. "No," he said lowly. "After everything we've been through? I can't handle that. I am not letting Ash ruin this for us—"

"Stop it," Dawn hissed, becoming irritated now. "This has nothing to do with him," she argued. "This is between us, so stop making it about him."

Paul got quiet now, listening to her.

"I know you're afraid of losing me, Paul." She whispered, causing him to look into her eyes now. "But I need space."

Paul kept his eyes on her and saw her walking up to him as she placed a kiss upon his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered, now walking away.

Paul licked his lips slowly, staring straight ahead. He wasn't sure what to think now. He just knew that _he_ truly was the problem and it wasn't Ash.

* * *

People were out in front of his block, outside smoking or either talking with each other. Some cars passed by his block and so did buses, but Paul sat on the bench in thought, bringing his blunt up to his lips.

He stared out in front of him, looking at the current building in front of his. It was another building with some stores combined in it. He saw as people entered and exited the stores every second, but his mind wasn't focused on them at all.

"_I never saw the day coming that you would ever wanna leave me."_

Paul licked his lips and brought the blunt back up to his lips, inhaling the smoke.

If only he hadn't started some bullshit about Ash in the first place then maybe, just maybe, they would've still been together. His heart was aching as he remembered her words from earlier.

He told her that he was afraid to lose her so why did she break up with him? It didn't make any sense. Doesn't she love him the same way that he loved her?

Paul hated thinking this way, but he started to believe that she might not love him like the way he loves her.

"_Baby, you told me no matter what your heart would always be for me. Always be for me, yeah, baby."_

No matter what, Paul will always feel hatred for Ash. Ash always ruins everything and he hated that he even ruined this. He made Dawn break up with him and Paul felt like breaking something.

He let the smoke flow amongst the air and stared hard at it as it faded away into the atmosphere.

Why does she feel that they need a break? Is he suffocating her?

Paul frowned as he started thinking about his actions. Maybe he really was suffocating her, especially with the whole Ash thing.

Paul looked up across the street again and saw a couple walking out of the store. The couple kissed and it made him think of him and Dawn. He saw as they held hands and walked down the sidewalk, venturing off somewhere else.

He looked down at his hands again and then brought his blunt back to his lips.

Paul was feeling a lot of emotions inside of him and he wasn't sure if he could take it all. He just knew that he was so angry and also hurt at the same time. He was angry because he felt Ash ruined everything once again and he was hurt because he feels that Dawn is drifting away from him. She says that if they take a break, they will eventually find their way back together, but is that even true? Paul wasn't sure of what to believe anymore.

Paul watched as the smoke left out of his mouth and into the atmosphere once again.

It has been officially seven hours since their break up and Paul wasn't even sure how to act right now.

He saw that it was beginning to get dark outside and he stared up at the moon for a short while.

"_You left me for somebody else now. (I wish I never loved ya) you left me, baby you left me."_

Dawn meant the world to him and it just pained him because he felt that he didn't mean the same way to her. If he did, why did she break up with him?

Paul licked his lips again and began to get up from the bench.

He walked toward his building, trying his best to calm down as he brought the blunt back up to his lips.

"_You left me for somebody else now (Girl I wish I never met you) you left me, baby you left me."_

As soon as Paul entered his building, he stopped at the elevator and pressed the button.

He brought the blunt back down to his side as he now let the smoke escape out his mouth.

He watched as the elevator doors opened and walked inside, quickly pressing the button to the 7th floor. Paul sighed as he leaned his back against the wall, watching as the elevator doors closed and began moving upwards.

He was just so stressed out and he wanted to get very high at the moment.

"_Girl, your beauty made me feel like you were my everything, made think you was worth it, no."_

When the elevator stopped on the 7th floor, he watched as the doors slid open and stepped outside into the hall. He brought the blunt back up to his lips, inhaling some smoke as he walked over to his apartment room.

Shoving a hand inside his pocket, he grabbed his house keys and opened the door with it.

"_Yeah, I got issues, like you were any better."_

Paul furrowed his eyebrows together when he saw his brother getting dressed as if he was going out on a date. "Where you going?" he wondered, closing the door behind him.

"I'm going out with Maylene," Reggie told him, standing in front of a mirror that was hanging on the wall. He fixed his tie nicely and slicked his hair with his hands.

"Of course," Paul mumbled, placing the keys down on the kitchen counter.

"You should invite Dawn over so you won't be bored," Reggie suggested, still fixing himself in the mirror.

"She broke up with me," Paul said, sounding irritated. He walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

"What?" Reggie looked over at Paul and then looked at the mirror again, grabbing his cologne and putting some on him. "Why?"

Paul shrugged, staring at the large television that wasn't on. "She says she needs space,"

Reggie frowned slightly after putting on his cologne. He walked over to the living room and looked at his younger brother looking straight at the television. Reggie could tell he was hurt, he knew his brother too well.

"I'm sorry, Paul." He patted his brother on the shoulder, taking a seat beside him.

Paul continued to stare at the blank television screen in thought.

"Do you know why she needs space?"

Paul stared off for a little while. "She feels like I don't trust her."

"Well do you?"

Paul remained quiet.

"Why don't you trust her, Paul?" Reggie wondered.

Paul shrugged, deciding to not answer that question. He brought his blunt back up to his lips and inhaled a lot of smoke.

"Is it because of Ash?" Reggie raised his eyebrow. When he saw Paul's eyebrow twitch at the sound of that name, he knew it must have been him. "Of course… what did he do this time?"

Paul let the smoke out of his mouth and flow into the air, now looking down at the coffee table. "He just keeps getting in the way. Every time he has a problem or something, he always looks for her for advice."

"So you're upset because he always turns to Dawn whenever something is going on with him?"

Paul sat there quietly again, deciding not to answer that.

"Well, they are best friends Paul, so of course he's going to turn to her with help."

Paul groaned. "Yeah, but it gets on my nerves because there's always something up with him. And it pisses me off because she always acknowledges him, like she really cares and—"

"You still think she has a thing for him, don't you?"

Paul felt his jaw clench at Reggie's words. Was it really that obvious?

Reggie shook his head, "Dawn loves you Paul, not Ash."

"Then why did she dump me?" Paul looked at Reggie and then slowly turned his head toward the coffee table again, bringing his blunt back up to his lips.

"It's probably because you keep thinking she's not loyal to you."

Paul stared hard at the coffee table, pulling the blunt away from his lips and let the smoke come out of his mouth.

"I know you're hurting Paul, but I think that maybe that space she wants is very much needed. You need space too, so you can think things through about this. You can't be with her if you can't trust her."

Paul let out a breath of air. He wouldn't admit it, but Reggie is right. He really can't be with her if he can't trust her and Paul was finding it difficult to find that trust for her.

Reggie pulled out his phone and instantly noticed that Maylene messaged him. He looked over at Paul. "Well, I'm about to leave." He mumbled.

Paul was still staring off in thought and Reggie frowned, patting his brother on the shoulder again. "It's gonna be okay, Paul. Just relax,"

Reggie got up and started heading towards the door, grabbing his keys.

Paul listened as he opened the front door and closed it, staring at the television screen now.

_Yeah, everything is going to be just fine…_

Paul frowned.

He brought his blunt back up to his lips once more.

* * *

It had been at least five hours since Reggie left and Paul was already feeling fucked up. He was smoking weed all night long, trying to take his mind off of Dawn and everything.

Paul brought the bong back up to his lips again with his index finger on the carb. He held the lighter and lit the substance while simultaneously inhaling.

He let the smoke remain in his lungs for a while until finally letting it out of his mouth, watching as the smoke went off into the air, fogging up the living room.

Paul raised his eyebrow when he heard light knocks on his front door. He furrowed his eyebrows together in confusion.

Reggie is home?

Paul looked over at the cable box, seeing that it was currently 12:30 am.

Paul placed the bong down on the coffee table and slowly got up from his couch and walked over to the front door. What was Reggie doing home so early? He usually never comes home this early, especially since he is out with Maylene.

He opened the door and was surprised to see Giselle instead of Reggie. He furrowed his eyebrows again. "What are you doing here?"

She stared at him, not saying a word. Paul noticed she was looking a bit off since she didn't exactly have on much make up and her hair was pulled into a messy ponytail.

"I just… needed to see someone." She avoided eye contact with him, deciding to look behind him and inside his house. She noticed a lot of smoke and she could smell weed all over him.

Paul was going to ask what was up, but he shook his head, stepping aside so he could let her in.

Giselle folded her arms over her chest and walked inside of his apartment, listening as he closed the door behind her.

Giselle watched as he brushed past her and went toward the kitchen. She was wondering what was up with him, since he also looked like something was bothering him as well. "What's up with you?" she wondered, watching as he grabbed a beer bottle out of the fridge.

"Life," he mumbled, turning to look at her. "You want one?"

Giselle stared at the beer bottle he had and then shook her head. "I'm good,"

Paul turned to the fridge again and closed it.

She leaned against the kitchen counter, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What about you? You look stressed." Paul turned to her again, popping the top off from his beer bottle.

She looked up at him and then looked down at the floor, forcing a smile. "… Everyone hates me." She licked her lips slightly and continued to look down at the floor. "You should know why I am the way I am, everyone knows." She looked up at him.

"Actually, I don't." Paul told her.

Giselle shrugged, letting her eyes fall on his shirt, still trying to avoid eye contact with him. Paul could see tears forming in her eyes and he was surprised to see this because he was always so used to her being strong and being able to take anything.

"It doesn't matter now," she shook her head, moving her eyes to the floor again. "I just… I can't go back to who I was before. What's done is done…"

Paul stared at her for a short while.

It was weird to him, seeing her weak like this.

He placed his drink down on the counter and slowly walked up to her, her eyes still on the floor though.

Giselle felt her breath hitch when she felt him touch the left side of her face. "Hey," he said lowly, causing her to look up at him slowly.

She stared into his eyes, seeing that he was staring at her as if he actually cared.

"You're Giselle Ainsworth." He told her, as if to click something into her head.

She just stared at him, a bit surprised by that comment.

"Nothing can hurt you." He added.

Giselle furrowed her eyebrows together, feeling his palm leave her cheek and dropping back to his side.

Paul licked his lips and brushed past her.

She blinked, taking in those words. _Nothing can hurt you…_

It was like he was trying to tell her that she usually never gives a fuck about anything that was going on, so why should she give a fuck now?

A small smile formed in her lips as she realized what he had been implying. Damn right she is Giselle Ainsworth.

She turned around, "Paul," she said, causing him to stop in his tracks.

He turned to look at her.

"Thanks," she smiled.

Paul remained quiet, staring at her. She stared at him too.

A silence soon formed between them and Giselle could feel the slight tension forming and she wasn't sure of what was about to happen.

Paul licked his lips and without thinking, he walked up to her. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and suddenly he did the unexpected, he kissed her.

* * *

**A/N: Cliffhanger. (; Yayyyy I finally got a cliffhanger. So I know all of you probably want to kill me xD but boy oh boy, I just need more drama going on!**

**Just so you guys won't bite my heads off, just know that Giselle really doesn't mean anything to Paul. Paul is crazy in love with Dawn, so as Dawn would always say, no need to worry... (:**

**Songs used in this chapter: Somebody Else by Mario ft. Nicki Minaj**

**Yall better review lol… just don't curse me out please... ._.**


	18. Dull Grey Brown

**A/N: I finished the last chapter for this story and I think I'm happy with it. (: Don't worry, the last chapter would be 24, but I'm so happy that I got to finally finish it. It took me forever lol.**

**Anyyywayyyy. **

**Yall thought the kissing was bad? Lord, wait till you see what Giselle and Paul do next. I feel like yall are most definitely going to want to kill me after reading this chapter lmao. **

_**Dull Grey Brown **_**symbolizes selfish and/or inconsiderate actions.**

* * *

Giselle pulled away from the unexpected kiss, surprised and confused with Paul's unexpected actions. "Um…"

Paul stared at her lips and then looked at her face again. Why did she look so surprised? "You wanted this for a while…" he trailed off.

She licked her lips slowly and furrowed her eyebrows again, still confused. "I wanted sex, not a romantic gesture…"

Paul shrugged and then slowly let his eyes linger toward her chest and then back up at her face. "Do you still want it?"

She didn't understand what was going on. This wasn't like Paul at all, especially since she knew he was head over heels for the blueberry haired Blue Diamond. "What about Dawn?" she wondered, knowing his loyalty to her.

"Fuck her," he growled, a bit irritated that she even brought up her name. Giselle was a bit more confused, but she didn't bother asking what was the problem.

She was having problems just like him and she wasn't sure if she was up for sex with him.

Giselle was about to speak, but he silenced her with his lips pressing onto hers.

"_Girl, take it off for me, you know just what I want. It's always hard to leave, this private show."_

She wanted to pull away, but she instantly felt her body becoming hot just by how close he was. It wasn't helping when she felt his hands moving toward her waist.

Paul continued to kiss her and then bit down on her lip, groaning against her mouth. "I want to fuck you. Hard."

_Say what? _Giselle was looking at him in deep shock. This wasn't like Paul. He usually turns her down when it comes to sex and then all of a sudden he's talking about wanting to fuck her? Geez, what the hell did Dawn do to Paul? Did she fuck Ash or something?

Just before she could even ask him about his weird behavior, she gasped lightly when she felt his lips press onto her neck and his hand instantly grab one of her breasts hard and aggressively from her shirt.

Giselle couldn't help it. She moaned and she moaned hard. Once she gets turned on, nothing can stop her and she couldn't control herself, especially with what he was doing.

He listened as she moaned and he instantly grabbed her right leg and brought it up to his waist, now biting down on her neck.

"Yeah, that's more like it." She whispered in pleasure, feeling him sucking on her neck.

"_Hey Shawty, let me see you take it off, toot it up, back into me, pass it to me, imagine hanging halfway off the mattress while your ass is moving."_

She moaned again and instantly pushed him hard off of her, his back leaning against the fridge. She began to pull up his shirt hard and fast and instantly began to kiss down his chest.

One thing she loved doing was being in control.

Paul groaned as she motioned her way down his chest with her mouth. He grabbed her hair in his hands as he watched her get down on her knees and unbuckle his belt.

Paul knew what he was doing was wrong, but then again he didn't care. He wanted to fuck and he knew Giselle was the kind of girl that would obviously want to do it, so he went for it.

When she brought his dick out, Paul immediately groaned in pleasure when he felt her taking him inside of her mouth. She was sucking him up and down very good.

"_If only the masses could see your ass when it's in action, I swear. Manhandle you in public places, I make you take it right here."_

Paul began to thrust himself in and out of her mouth, he could feel his whole dick getting wet just the way he liked it. She sounded like she was choking, but he didn't care at all.

Giselle continued to suck him off as well as giving him a hand job at the same time. She pulled back and licked the tip and looked up at him with those famous cat eyes of hers. "You like that?" she said seductively, feeling as horny as he is.

Paul looked down at her and groaned again. "Yeah,"

She bit down on her lip and began to suck him off again, causing him to groan in pleasure. He felt himself coming close and he didn't want to stop, so he continued to thrust himself in and out of her mouth.

"_Now, can you just kiss it for me while I'm doin' bout a hundred on the highway. Get it, slap it wet, get it big, girl I bet you could finish before I pull up on the driveway."_

It only took a moment later for him to cum against her tongue. And Paul grabbed his dick, slapping it against her tongue and she moaned at the taste of it.

Giselle slurped up his juices and slowly got back up on her feet.

Paul grabbed her by both sides of her face and smashed his lips onto hers. Giselle moaned against his mouth, her panties getting wet.

Paul instantly whipped her around and moved her pants down along with her panties. He got a good view of her bare ass and he smacked it hard with his hand, causing her to hiss in pleasure.

"Bend over," he demanded.

The brunette moaned again and leaned over the counter. Paul roughly grabbed her ass and placed himself deep inside her.

"I didn't think you were the doggy style type of guy," she mumbled, biting down on her lip.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," he pushed her down even more, grabbing a lock of her hair in his hand as he began thrusting in and out of her hard and fast.

"_Girl, take it off for me, you know just what I want. It's always hard to leave, this private show."_

It's been a long time since Paul had sex with someone other than Dawn. He and Dawn had just started becoming sexually active, so technically it was still a long time since he had sex.

Paul continued to thrust himself hard and fast into Giselle, not really caring about how rough he was at the moment.

He knew that Giselle was very sexually active, so he knew that she could take just about anything.

Giselle nearly screamed as she felt him pounding into her.

Paul groaned as he felt her closing around him, the inside of her driving him crazy.

He was moving very fast and Giselle was loving it. Paul knew she was about to cum any second because he felt how wet she was around his dick.

"Damn, you're soaked." He groaned, continuing to pound into her.

"You're so big," she said in a moan, enjoying the size of him inside of her.

It only took him a second to cum and she came as well. Paul pulled out though, making sure he wouldn't cum into her. He wouldn't want to get her pregnant.

Paul knew that he was being very careless with his actions, but the way he was feeling at that moment, he just really didn't give a damn. He wanted to feel better about Dawn breaking up with him. It really made him angry that she dumped him. Even though Paul knew that he should have a little trust in her, he still felt that Ash is the reason why she dumped him in the first place.

Paul stared at Giselle's back. They were both equally stressed out so having sex was like a stress reliever to him. And anyway, he felt that he could get used to this thing he started with her, this sex thing.

"That was surprising," she said out of breath.

Paul smirked and then grunted. "Hn."

* * *

Giselle stared off at the ceiling with a blanket over her and she turned her head slightly to look at Paul, watching as he put back on his under pants.

Paul slowly got up from the bed and started heading towards his bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Giselle stared at the bathroom door and then slowly sat up on the bed, bringing the blanket closer to her. She grabbed her phone that was lying down on the bed and began to look through Instagram, wondering what was going on on her newsfeed. She stopped at a picture Ash posted and it looked like one of those pictures with quotes on it, so she decided to read the picture.

The picture read: "Damn, I'm addicted to you." And his caption read: "I can't let her go." With a frown emoji beside it.

She stared at it for a short while in thought and she began to realize something.

Ash seems to be the only person that really does care about her and she was just starting to realize that now.

Giselle licked her lips and slowly began to get off the bed.

She grabbed her clothes from the floor and began to put them on. It only took her about 3 minutes to put them on. She grabbed her phone and her purse and began heading out of Paul's room without saying bye or anything.

As she headed for the front door, she stepped out of his apartment room and closed the front door behind her.

Giselle couldn't think, she headed for the elevator and pressed the button.

"_Sitting here feeling kinda' crazy."_

When the elevator doors opened, she stepped inside and immediately pressed the button to the 1st floor.

"_But not just any crazy."_

Giselle stared off at the closed elevators as she felt it beginning to move down. Her mind was now focused on everything Ash has done lately.

Suddenly, tears were beginning to blur her eyes as she realized what he was doing. Everything made sense now.

"_It's the kind you feel when you love somebody."_

She let out a short breath of air.

Paul always complained about Dawn possibly having feelings for Ash and she never exactly understood why, but now she was beginning to understand.

When the elevator doors opened on the 1st floor, she immediately walked out of the elevator and began heading out of the building, clutching her phone in her hand.

"_And I know that my baby is calling somebody else baby."_

Giselle began walking on the sidewalk in the dark night, listening as cars drove on the street and hearing silent police sirens in the air, but she ignored it. Her eyes were on the floor as she walked and her mind was focused on everything Ash was doing.

Ash was the first to like her for her and not because of sex.

"_Um… Hey, I don't know if you really got the wrong impression of me, but I'm not after you because of sex. I like you a lot, but I just really want to get to know you if that's okay."_

_She placed her hands inside her pockets before raising her eyebrow. "Why?" She asked, not really understanding._

_Ash shrugged, "Because getting to know someone's personality is magical… At least to me it is."_

Ash was the first to be himself with her.

"_Sorry pretty boy, but I am not playing." She turned around as she attempted to leave, but she immediately felt a pair of sweaty arms wrap around her as her eyes widened in disgust._

_She did say he was hot all sweaty and shit, but that didn't mean that she wanted any of his sweat on her. "Let go of me!" She shouted, trying to break free from his grip._

_Ash laughed as he brought her closer to the basket headboard, holding her still._

_Giselle elbowed him hard and immediately the two fell backward as she collided on top of him._

_In an instant, Ash looked up at her, noticing that she was on top of him and Giselle noticed too, but she soon realized that she was even more all over his sweat. "Ugh! You are so disgusting! Go take a shower!" _

Giselle blinked back those tears as she continued to walk down the sidewalk, trying her best to control herself.

"_Who knew that my heart could ever bruise? You see this scar here on my chest? I'm hurting…"_

The way he looked at her. The way he _kissed _her. It was just so… different. She knew that he didn't want her for that.

Ash was just so confusing to her.

With the way he treats her and the way he made her feel. She had no idea what it all meant.

"_It's 4 am and my lover won't answer. He's probably somewhere with a dancer, sippin' champagne while I'm in his bed."_

Giselle placed strands of hair behind her ear as she continued to walk.

"_I'm not gonna turn away till you actually give me a chance at friendship at least." Ash finally said._

She shook her head, trying to take him out of her thoughts but he kept finding his way in them.

_He shoved his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a wrapped up piece of paper, handing it to her. "Cheerleading tryouts are happening again when Spring Break's over."_

_Giselle blinked, staring at him with a questionable look as she took the paper from his hands slowly._

"_I know you were once a cheerleader before and I know that you loved doing cheerleading, so you should do it again." He told her._

_She opened the piece of paper and saw that it was a flyer of the tryout dates. She stared at it hard in thought, not saying a word._

"_You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I just thought that you would probably be interested." He gulped slightly again, looking at her._

Giselle groaned, becoming frustrated now as tears began falling from her eyes.

"_It's 4 am and I think I might lose it. This mother fucker thinking I'm stupid. He must have bumped his head. I only know it's 4 am."_

She continued to walk down the sidewalk, feeling tears coming down her cheeks.

All of this was now beginning to make sense now.

She didn't want to admit it, but now it suddenly dawned on her.

She was beginning to fall in love him.

* * *

Giselle folded her arms together as she stared hard at Dawn talking with Ash. She wasn't sure of how she was feeling seeing her talking to him, but she just knew that she was a bit confused with her feelings for Ash. It may be love, it may be just a crush. Giselle just knew that she wasn't ready for a relationship though.

She felt a presence next to her, automatically knowing that it must have been Paul.

Paul stared off at the scene too, seeing Ash and Dawn talking with each other by her locker. He hardened his eyes on them, not liking this one bit.

Paul licked his lips and looked at Giselle, still wondering why she left last night. "Why'd you leave last night?"

Giselle kept her eyes on Ash and Dawn and opened her mouth to answer his question. "I have a crazy mother. She wanted me home," she mumbled a lie. She didn't want Paul to know the real reason why she left.

She was always known as the girl who never gave a fuck, especially to Paul, so why should he know the real reason why she left? Paul didn't care about her that way and she knew it.

"Oh," he looked over at the pair again and then at her, lowering his voice. "There's a storage room by Ms. Dawes class. Wanna meet me there before class starts?"

Giselle folded her arms together, keeping her eyes on Ash and Dawn. "What so we can fuck again?"

Paul chuckled lightly at that comment. "I know you want to," he said lowly.

She stared at Ash and Dawn for a little while longer and then rolled her eyes. "Fine. I need to relieve some stress anyway." She grabbed Paul by his shirt and walked around him as she now walked down the hall, grabbing him with her.

It only took them a few moments to find the storage room. Without anyone looking their way, Giselle immediately opened the storage closet and pulled Paul in there with her, closing the door behind her.

It was dark in there and a lot of storage supplies was around the floor, but she could care less. Giselle pushed Paul hard against the wall and instantly latched her lips onto his.

"_I only call you when it's half past five."_

She moaned against his lips as she kissed him hungrily. She let her hands move down to his pants as she began to unbuckle his belt, instantly pulling out his dick. Paul groaned against her mouth as he pulled down her pants and he picked her up quickly, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms latching around his neck.

"_I only love it when you touch me, not feel me. When I'm fucked up, that's the real me. When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, yeah."_

Paul grabbed onto his dick and placed it inside her center. He held her around him and walked to the other side of the storage closest, her back now leaning against the wall behind her. Giselle kept her lips onto his as she began biting down on his lower lip, her hands getting caught in his hair.

"_I only call you when it's half past five. The only time I'd ever call you mine."_

He began to thrust himself in and out of her, causing her to moan into his mouth and grab his hair even more. Paul groaned into her mouth as he now bit down on her lip, continuing to rock his body against her.

"_I only love it when you touch me, not feel me. When I'm fucked up, that's the real me. When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, babe."_

Paul kept going at it, placing his hands along the wall as he glided into her, hitting every sensational spot in her body.

* * *

Dawn sighed as she leaned her back against the headboard of her bed. She looked down at her feet as she held the phone up to her ear. "I know it's hard, Ash."

She listened to Ash sigh again from the phone.

She had been talking to him for at least fifteen minutes and he was still down about Giselle. Dawn didn't really like Giselle much, but she knew how Ash felt about her so she did her best to say nice things about her to him.

"Are you and Paul talking again?"

"No," Dawn pursed her lips. "Ever since I told him I wanted a break, he hasn't spoke to me. I guess I really hurt him, you know."

"Is Paul even capable of feeling hurt?" Ash wondered. "I swear he always looks pissed all the time."

Dawn giggled at that. Paul does always look pissed all the time. "Yes, Paul is capable of feeling hurt." She laughed, causing Ash to laugh too.

Their laughter soon died down for a bit and she was about to say something else, but Ash beat her to it.

"Do you know why Paul hates me?"

Dawn blinked, not sure of how to answer that. She didn't want to tell Ash the real reason why Paul couldn't stand him, but then again she didn't want to lie to him either. Dawn sighed. "Well… it's because he thinks I got feelings for you."

It was silent on the other end and Dawn was beginning to wonder if she said something wrong. "Ash?"

"Well, do you?" he asked.

Dawn was about to say something, but she closed her mouth shut. That was a weird a question, a question that Ash never asked her before. She didn't want him to think that she has feelings for him and also that would make things awkward between them.

Dawn let out an innocent laugh. "You're my best friend, Ash…"

"Then how come Paul thinks you like me that way?"

Dawn shrugged, not really knowing why. "To be honest, I don't know… I only wanted a break because I feel like he needs to trust me. He's always second guessing me when it comes to you, Ash."

She wished she could see Ash's face, but she assumed he must have been frowning or in deep thought.

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?"

"No," she whispered. "He doesn't want to talk to you, he can't stand you, remember?"

"Oh right," Ash chuckled lightly, but Dawn could tell he was a bit uncomfortable. She was beginning to wonder if he actually cared if Paul liked him or not.

"Does it bother you that Paul doesn't like you, Ash?"

It was silent for a moment, but Ash answered. "Yeah, it does." He told her. "I didn't do anything wrong. I don't want him to hate me forever."

Dawn frowned slightly, feeling bad for him. "Well, hopefully he won't."

"Yeah, well I gotta go. I'm about to go to the bar and see if Giselle is there."

"Doesn't she not want to talk to you?" Dawn wondered.

"Yeah, but I'm going to make her talk to me. We don't have to date, but I at least want her in my life as a friend."

"Well, good luck Ash."

"Thanks." Ash said. "I'll talk to you later, Dawn. Bye."

"Bye."

The line soon cut off and Dawn sighed, slowly pulling the phone down to her lap and staring at it.

She stared at it for a short while and soon searched for Paul's contact. He hasn't talked to her since the break up and she knew he was hurting, but she just wanted to at least know if he was okay.

She pulled the phone up to her ear, listening as it rang.

Dawn wasn't sure if he would pick up or not, especially since she is the one that broke up with him, but she still hoped that he would.

She listened as it continued to ring and she frowned lightly when it went straight to voicemail.

Of course he wouldn't want to talk to her.

Dawn licked her lips and waited to leave him a voicemail. As soon as she heard that familiar beep to leave a voicemail, she began to speak. "Hey, Paul." She started speaking, slowly looking down at her hands. "Look," she took a breath of air. "I know you don't want to speak to me, but I was just calling to check up on you…" She bit down on her bottom lip and then took another breath of air, moving her bangs away from her eyes. "I know that it must be hard for you, but trust me, it's hard for me too… I love you Paul. I really do."

Dawn rested the back of her head against her headboard, looking up at the ceiling. "And I promise this will all be worth it." Before she could say anything else, the line hung up and she sighed heavily.

She slowly brought the phone down to her lap and then stared off into her room.

She just hoped that Paul will be okay.

* * *

Ash walked into the crowded bar, surprised to see a lot of people there.

He wasn't exactly the type to always go out to bars, he only usually went with Gary and the team, but other than that, he never went to bars. This was his first time to take a good look inside, seeing a lot of people drinking and having a good time, watching people play pool at the game corner and music playing loudly through the speakers.

His eyes fell on Giselle when he saw her at the bar counter, buying a drink.

"_When I'm looking at you, I keep thinking."_

Ash moved his hat down a bit and began to walk over to where she was.

He watched as she chugged down a shot of alcohol. Ash assumed it must have been her fifth glass since she had four placed down right in front of her.

Hearing someone clear their throat, Giselle dropped her glass down on the counter and swallowed the alcohol that was on her tongue, now turning her head to the person that was beside her. Her face immediately fell flat when she realized who it was. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here to talk." Ash smirked, taking a seat beside her in the empty stool. Giselle rolled her eyes and looked over for the bartender. "Hey, bartender! Can I get two more shots? Thanks!"

Ash raised his eyebrow. "You should slow down there a bit."

Giselle scoffed, looking over at him. "Who are you, my father?"

"No, but a beautiful girl like you shouldn't have too much to drink."

She rolled her eyes, not in the mood to deal with him. She was already sort of drunk and Ash could tell. "I can have as much as I want," she mumbled, flipping her hair to the side.

"Alright," Ash raised his hands in defense. "If you say so," laughing lightly.

When the bartender arrived, he decided he wanted a shot as well. "Can I get two shots of vodka and that be it?" Ash began to pull out his money.

"_Standing on the dance floor while she's trickin'. You are all I want girl, she's a chicken."_

"Yeah, sure," The bartender went to go fix him glasses of vodka.

Ash looked over at Giselle and watched as she dropped her head back and chugged down the shot of alcohol. By looking at it, it looked like champagne.

"So what are you doing here?" Ash wondered, watching as she placed the glass back on the counter.

"I always come here," she said breathlessly, grabbing the next shot of champagne.

Ash watched as she dropped her head back again.

"Here's your shots," the bartender said. Ash looked over at the bartender and took his two shots of vodka. "Thanks."

Ash brought his glass up to his lips and immediately chugged down the entire thing in one shot. He was only going to have two shots of vodka and that would be it for the night. He didn't want to get too drunk, he wanted to at least be sober.

He looked over at Giselle and could tell that she was obviously drunk off her ass.

"Why are you so annoying?" She mumbled, looking over at him. Ash could smell the alcohol all over her.

He shrugged, smirking slightly at that comment. "It's just the way I am."

"You get on my nerves," Giselle rolled her eyes, pushing her hair to her back.

Ash was about to speak, but then he watched as a random guy sat beside her, calling for her.

"Hey mami, wanna dance?"

Ash stared at the guy, he could tell the guy was trying to flirt with her.

Giselle looked over at the guy and smiled hard at him. "Sure, but first let me have a taste of your lips. I'm hungry," she moaned, grabbing the guys face and smashing her lips onto that guys.

"_Girl, if it's alright. Let's go somewhere and get it on tonight. I got a girl, but you look good tonight."_

Ash watched as she made out with that random guy, now feeling awkward.

He wasn't sure if he should feel jealous or not, but he knew he was very uncomfortable.

Ash sighed when he realized she continued to acknowledge that guy, making out with him.

He grabbed his other shot glass and stared at Giselle again.

"_It's one on one tonight, tonight."_

Shaking his head, Ash brought the glass up to his lips and swallowed all the alcohol that was inside.

* * *

Paul ran a hand through his hair and picked up his phone, seeing that he received a missed call from Dawn and also a voicemail. His eyebrows furrowed together as he stared down at his phone.

He quickly pressed the voice message and brought it up to his ear.

"Hey, Paul."

Paul stared at his bed as he listened. "Look," he heard her take a breath of air. "I know you don't want to speak to me, but I was just calling to check up on you…"

It got quiet again and he heard her take another breath of air. "I know that it must be hard for you, but trust me, it's hard for me too… I love you Paul. I really do."

Paul felt his jaw tighten at this as he listened to her next words.

"And I promise this will all be worth it."

He waited for her to say more, but it cut off.

Paul brought the phone down to look at it and suddenly he felt angry again.

_She loves me?_ Paul wanted to break his phone. _If she loves me, then why did she break up with me?_ Paul groaned as he thought this, wanting to scream.

He shook his head though and he immediately called Giselle.

It only took her a second to answer. "Hello?"

Paul didn't think, he said the first thing that was on his mind. "How do you feel about round three?"

* * *

**A/N: Paul is using the hell out of Giselle lol, poor her. But she doesn't care about Paul either, so I guess they're both using each other, idk. They're both being selfish assholes anyway.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Private Show by T.I. ft. Chris Brown, 4 am by Melanie Fiona, The Hills by The Weeknd, Get it on Tonight by Montell Jordan**

**Once again, please don't curse me out. .-. lol, I really want to know how you guys feel about Paul's behavior though. Do you guys think what he's doing is wrong? I mean, I think he's being a dick. He's being a typical fuck boy.**

**But I must say that this storyline _really_ spices up the story!**

**Review for me! (:**


	19. Sulfur

**A/N: My story gets more interesting from here on. (: The Paul and Giselle storyline is supposed to play a big part for this story, so I hope that you guys are most definitely hooked! I also notice I got a lot of new readers that I didn't even know I had, but it makes me feel happy that I got people enjoying this story as much as I am! I just really like to write stories based off of realistic events, it seems more interesting to me. Idk.**

**So, let's see what happens next in this chapter. (;**

_**Sulfur **_**symbolizes pain, anger, and revenge.**

* * *

She couldn't explain what she was feeling inside.

She just continued to stare at Ash talking with Dawn, an envious feeling boiling inside of her.

Since when is _she, Giselle Ainsworth _jealous of anyone? Let alone, Dawn? Dawn was practically a waste of space to even be jealous of. Just because she was a Blue Diamond, doesn't mean that she's a goddess.

Giselle chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the two still talking with each other. She began to wonder what exactly what they were talking about since they were both smiling about something.

What was that damn girl even smiling about? And what the hell was he doing making her smile?

All of a sudden, she started to feel like she was in Paul's position. Instead of feeling threatened by Ash, she was feeling threatened by Dawn.

When she noticed Ash part from her somewhere else down the hall, Giselle instantly walked up to her and slammed the Blue Diamond's locker shut, instantly startling the girl.

"Having fun caking with Ash?" She said, an obvious attitude lingering on those words.

Dawn was taken aback, not understanding where all this rage was coming from. "Caking? What do you mean—"

"Don't act like you're stuck on stupid," Giselle hardened her eyes on her. "You've wanted Ash for a long time now."

"Really, you too?" Dawn sounded irritated, but Giselle could really care less. "Ash is just my friend, he's nothing else."

"But you wish he was."

"No, I don't." Dawn snapped.

"Come on," Giselle laughed in her face, folding her arms beneath her chest. "Ash is insanely _hot_ and he fucking knows how to sweep a girl off her feet. You're telling me that you didn't fall for it?"

"Can you guys give me a break?" She responded, Giselle noticed her eyes darkened. "I'm tired of all this Ash drama. Ash this, Ash that, Ash, Ash, _Ash._ It's getting on my nerves!"

"Because you know it's the truth," Giselle scoffed, shaking her head.

"You and Paul are pissing me off," Dawn trailed off, now trying to open her locker again, but Giselle closed it shut again, quickly noticing Dawn's eyebrow twitching.

"Oh, you're not getting off that easily," Giselle kept her hand on her locker, making sure to keep it close.

Dawn felt her eyes harden even more as she slowly looked back at Giselle.

"You're a bitch," Dawn spat.

Giselle laughed at that comment, smiling at it. "Thanks. I've been told like—" She took a moment to count in her head and then smiled "—a billion times." She laughed.

Dawn stared at her for a short while. She shook her head and tried to brush past her, but Giselle instantly stopped her.

"Oh, I've got some news." Giselle started, now grinning.

Dawn kept a hard glare on her, not in the mood. "Spill it, then." She said sharply.

Giselle kept that grin on her face. "You know, your boyfriend and I—"

"He's not my boyfriend." She interrupted.

Giselle raised her eyebrow at that.

"We're taking a break," Dawn added, keeping that hard look on the brunette.

Giselle stared at her, a bit surprised. She licked her lips and then smiled again. "Great… so I guess you won't care to find out that I've been fucking him occasionally."

Dawn looked as if she seen a ghost and Giselle became satisfied by this look playing on her face.

"What?" Dawn whispered as if in shock.

"He came to me." Giselle shrugged, now reminiscing. "God, he is such a _monster _in bed." She bit down on her lower lip and looked at Dawn again, still seeing that look of hurt on her face. "It's too bad that he's not your boyfriend anymore."

Dawn parted her lips to speak, but she felt Giselle brush past her, her mind still trying to process those words.

_She had sex with Paul? _Dawn suddenly felt a whole lot of anger forming inside of her body. She didn't know what to think or even how to feel. She just knew that she couldn't exactly process the anxiety that was now tearing at her heart.

Instantly, Dawn turned around and grabbed Giselle and slammed her body into the nearest locker in rage. Giselle's back hit the locker behind her hard and her hair fell over her face, catching her off guard. Her mouth was wide open and she stared at Dawn in shock. "You _bitch!"_ She said, slamming her arms onto Dawn's shoulders and pushing her back.

The two instantly gained the attention of other students. Dawn dropped her purse and her books onto the floor. "I'm the bitch?" she let out a laugh and pulled her hair up into a ponytail, getting prepared to fight. "You're the one who fucks every guy you see and yet you chose Paul? Of all people?"

"I can fuck whoever the fuck I want," the brunette started, hardening her eyes on the Blue Diamond that was prepared to fight.

"Yeah but not Paul fucking Sumpter—!"

"I already fucked him twice. What are you gonna do about it?"

"Ohhhh!" some of the people screamed in the crowd they gained, but Dawn ignored them and sucked her teeth at Giselle.

Dawn shook her head and forced a smile at the brunette before her. "I knew it would come to this," she said lowly, shaking her head. Giselle raised an eyebrow at her and watched as she took a few steps closer to her. "I never liked you from the start." Dawn said. "Hearing all these stories about you, of you using people, mainly Ash. You know, I think that you're upset because you know he will eventually give up on you because you know that you're no good for him." Dawn forced another smile, cocking her head to the side. "I know Ash and he will give up on you for someone better and for someone who treats him right—"

"What, with someone like you?" Giselle spat.

Dawn's look hardened on that comment. "I am getting fucking sick of you and Paul assuming that I got feelings for him—"

"Well Ash is insanely gorgeous. I'm surprised you haven't fucked him yet… or did you already?"

Dawn's look became even darker on her and Giselle smiled deviously. "It would explain why Paul keeps begging me to fuck him every now and then."

Before Giselle could say more, Dawn threw a punch at her face and then grabbed her by the hair and shoved her toward the floor. "You wanna fight? Bring it bitch! Show me what you got!"

Immediately, students around them got a rise out of the unexpected fight, encouraging the both of them to go hard at one another.

"Fuck her up, Dawn!"

"Yeah, that bitch needs to get a beat down!"

Giselle brought her leg up and tried to kick Dawn with her heels, but Dawn grabbed her by the leg and dragged her on the floor. She instantly got on top of the girl and began to throw hard punches at her face over and over.

The brunette kept grabbing onto Dawn, trying to get her off of her. With all force, she pushed Dawn off of her and Dawn fell at her side, Giselle now taking over.

Giselle grabbed Dawn and slammed her back into the locker just like how Dawn did to her a few moments ago and she grabbed her by the neck, in an attempt to choke her.

Dawn was a bit surprised that Giselle would even try something as bold as that, but that made her even more upset. She brought her leg up and sent a hard kick at Giselle's stomach, Giselle's hard grip unleashing from Dawn's neck.

The Blue Diamond gasped and sent another punch her way.

This time the attention they gained was even bigger, and teachers and administrators were running through the crowd, trying to get to both Dawn and Giselle and to stop them from fighting.

It wasn't until a moment later Dawn felt a pair of hands pull her away from attacking Giselle. Dawn struggled to get out of the arms that was pulling her away from the fight and she watched as someone else grabbed Giselle also and pulled her away as well.

* * *

"What the hell has gotten into you both!?" The Principal screamed, staring at the two girls sitting across from his desk.

Giselle stared hard at the desk with her arms folded under her chest. She had a scar across her forehead and around her arms.

Dawn sat on the right side of Giselle with her hands placed down on the arms of the chair she was sitting on. Dawn wasn't bleeding at all though and she didn't have any marks on her.

The Principal stared at the two girls, waiting for a response from the girls, but neither of them gave him an answer.

"Is someone going to speak up?" He said angrily.

Giselle rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to speak. "The bitch is just mad because I fucked her _ex_-boyfriend. Notice how I put the emphasis on ex?"

Dawn sucked her teeth. "You don't know shit about what's going on between me and him—"

"I know a lot more than you think honey,"

"Relax," The Principal interrupted, slamming his hand down on his desk. The girls looked his way and decided to say no more. "The both of you are suspended for a whole week."

Giselle shrugged, not really caring about her suspension, but Dawn however, actually cared about her grades. "I'm suspended? But she's the one who started everything!"

"Um, last time I checked, _you're_ the one who pushed me into a locker first, so don't act like I was the one who started it." Giselle pointed out.

"Yeah, but _you _provoked me!" Dawn shouted.

"I provoked you?" Giselle let out a light laugh. "I was just doing you a favor. Paul seems like a waste of time anyway since he ran to me of all people."

"And how the hell is that doing me a favor?"

"What girl wouldn't want to know if their lover boy is fucking someone else? If I were in your shoes, I would most definitely want to know."

Dawn's mouth slowly closed shut after carefully listening to her last comment. It did make since about why Giselle decided to tell Dawn about Paul's actions in the first place, but the way she told her about the news seemed very disrespectful and it got a rise out of her. Giselle told her the news like she was proud about her actions with Paul and she was being very bitchy, which really pissed Dawn off.

Dawn shook her head, still upset with Giselle. "Well the way you told me the news seemed really fucked up. You could've told me a whole different way."

"And how else was you going to take it?" The brunette raised her eyebrow. "Either way, you still would've got mad. And anyway, I don't really like you much either so I thought it would be fun to see how you would react."

"You are such a bitch!" Dawn got up, but the Principal slammed his hands on the desk again, causing the girls to look his way again.

"This is going to stop _now._" He growled. "None of you are fighting again."

"Oh trust me, it's not going to happen again." Giselle rolled her eyes and got up from her seat. "Are we done here? You already called the suspension, so I'm going home now."

"Yeah and stay the hell home. I don't want you anywhere _near_ Paul." Dawn threatened.

Giselle chuckled lightly and looked over at Dawn. "I don't remember having someone who can boss me around."

The Blue Diamond hardened her eyes on the brunette and got up from her seat, taking a brief step closer to the girl before her.

"Well now you do." Dawn whispered, her face nearly close to Giselle's. "I don't know who the hell you think you are… But I am _not _the one."

Giselle chuckled lightly at that statement. "I'm not intimidated by you."

"Well you should be." Dawn promised. "You want crazy? I will _show_ you crazy. So if I were you, I would think twice about what I would do from here on."

Giselle stared hard at Dawn and then chuckled again. She shook her head and turned her head to the Principal and looked back over at Dawn.

Dawn watched as Giselle soon turned away and walked out of the Principal's office.

* * *

It was difficult for her to pull herself together as she stared at the door in front of her. She just _needed _to confront him about this. How dare he accuse her of having feelings for Ash when he's busy sexing up the girl she hates the most?

Dawn could feel tears forming in her eyes again, but she forced herself to not let them fall. Paul needed to be put in his _place _just like Giselle_. _

She bit down on her bottom lip hard and knocked on the door. She knew he was home, the smell of weed was hanging heavily in the air.

She waited impatiently, wondering if Giselle was inside. Just the simple thought of her being inside his house was driving her crazy. She couldn't explain the amount of pain she was feeling right now, she just knew that if he opened that door and she saw her and him inside, she just knew she would lose it.

Her breath hitched when she saw his door fly open.

Dawn stared hard at him, seeing as smoke rushed at her. He was holding a blunt in his hands and he dropped it at his sides, staring at her with a plain look on his face.

A silence overwhelmed them.

She felt her fist clench at her side, but she quickly unclenched them and tried to calm herself down. Before she could even break the silence between them, he beat her to it.

"Can I help you?" he asked, his eyebrow raised.

Dawn opened her mouth, a bit taken aback at that comment.

_Can I help you? _Dawn wanted to punch him right there with that slick comment.

"Excuse me?" She raised her voice, coming off pretty hard.

Paul didn't seem to be fazed by her tone of voice, he was just surprised to see her there. Paul licked his lips and brought the blunt back up to his mouth.

Dawn's eyes hardened when she saw him inhale the smoke from his weed. She just wanted to snatch it out of his hands. "I hope you _burn," _she mumbled bitterly.

Paul raised his eyebrow. "What?"

She saw as he dropped his arm back to his side, the smoke leaving his mouth.

"You heard me." She raised her voice again. "I _hope you burn."_ She said, dragging that last word.

Paul chuckled lightly at that comment, "What are you so mad about?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

Paul shrugged, still amused. "I don't." he laughed again, now a bit curious about why she was so mad at him. "Enlighten me."

"How dare you accuse me of having feelings for Ash when you're over here having sex with Giselle!?" She screamed, her voice nearly echoing throughout the hall. Paul could tell how much pain she was in by the sound of her voice, but he hardened his eyes on her.

"And that's a problem, because…?"

"It's a problem because I'm your girlfriend!" She shrieked.

Paul laughed at that statement. "Girlfriend?" he laughed again. "We're on a break, remember?"

"That doesn't mean you can go around doing whatever you want." She said lowly, her lips now trembling.

Paul raised his eyebrow at that. "Actually, it does. You broke up with me, so don't act like you own me."

Dawn shook her head and looked toward the ground, trying her best to calm down. "How could you do this to me?" she whispered.

"I'm not hurting you," Paul laughed, a bit confused about her behavior. "I'm just having fun."

She slowly brought her head up to him as he stared at her as if she were trash. "Giselle seems like the kind of girl that I need anyway. She likes to fuck a lot, just like I do." He continued, now getting serious.

By the look on his face, Dawn could tell that he was changing.

"I like fucking her." Paul smiled. "She's way better in bed than you are."

Dawn parted her lips at that, a bit surprised with those words. How could he say that?

He sounded like a person with no heart, no soul, no nothing!

"Fuck you," she said bitterly as tears now began to form in her eyes.

Paul stared at her, not fazed by her tears either. "You already did." He smirked slightly. "More than once."

She felt her mouth trembling and her heart breaking in half right there. It was like she was staring at someone with no humanity. He looked at her like she was a joke to him.

"Got nothing to say huh?" Paul laughed darkly.

He watched as tears slowly fell from her cheeks, her heart shattering right in front of him.

"And you lost your virginity to me?" Paul moved his face down to her level, his face dangerously close to hers.

Dawn stared hard at him, closing her lips tightly shut as she listened to his next words.

"You're pathetic," he said, now becoming serious again.

She stared hard at his face, anger now filling inside of her. "You are such a bastard!" She pushed him hard in the chest, pushing him away from her face.

Paul straightened his body up and smirked at that comment. "At least I'm not a whore like you."

If all the things he said earlier hurt, then none of that compared to _this. _

She stared at him in shock, at a loss of words.

"Did you like it when I hit it from the back?" Paul questioned, staring at her with dark eyes.

When she didn't answer, he continued. "How about when you sucked my dick, did you like that?"

Without thinking, she did the first thing that came across her mind. She smacked him across the face, hearing that burning sensation lingering in the air. Tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall and she felt like her heart was being ripped right out of her chest.

If Paul could move on so quickly from someone he supposedly _loved_, this made her doubt any feelings he claimed to have for her.

Maybe it was true about all guys, always using you for sex and throwing you away like a piece of trash.

"Go to hell!" She screamed, making it sound like more of a demand.

Paul slowly turned his face to look at her. She could see that huge red mark forming on the side of his face, but she didn't care.

"I never want to see your face again." She whispered. "I hope you _die,"_

Dawn shook her head and Paul stared at her as if in shock.

She turned and began to leave for the elevator.

When she disappeared inside the elevator, Paul touched the side of his face where she slapped him and then slowly dropped his hand back to his side, taking another glance at that elevator.

He wouldn't admit it, but those last words she said really hit him hard in the chest.

_I hope you die…_

Paul frowned as he allowed those words to sink in. He took one last look at the elevator again and walked inside his house, closing the front door.

* * *

It only took a couple hours for the sun to go down.

It had been at least 9 pm, and Ash and his friends planned to meet at the basketball court in the park just a few blocks away from his place.

Ash kept his basketball in his hand as he walked down the sidewalk, on his way to the park.

Lately, his mind was only focused on Giselle and what she was doing, so he felt that he was sort of drifting away from his team, like Gary told him. He didn't want them to feel like a girl was more important than the team, so he wanted them to meet up and have a nice game that night.

Ash could already hear the sounds of a basketball hitting the floor over and over as he slowly approached the park. He knew they already started a game.

Surprisingly, he noticed there was a lot of people there at the park and there was even an audience for his team.

People were recording videos, cheering them on and everything. Ash smiled at this though. He loved this park, especially since it was practically one of his favorite parks in the city, only because it had a big enough basketball court to play in.

Ash ran over to the basketball court, trying to focus on what was happening.

He paused at a bench and watched as Gary and two other team members went up against three other random guys. It was like these random guys wanted to challenge the famous basketball team in the city.

It was true. Just like the marching band, they were also most well-known in the city.

Ash watched as Gary ran toward the basket, dribbling the ball as he blocked the guys that were trying to steal the ball. He furrowed his eyebrows together when he watched Gary jump up and threw the ball into the basket, seeing as it collided into it and fell straight to the ground.

Ash smiled. He loved basketball so much.

* * *

"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Giselle teased, biting down on her lower lip as she slowly walked over to him.

Paul was sitting at the edge of his bed, staring hard at the wall in front of him. He sat there quietly, holding a blunt in his hands.

The brunette waited for him to answer, but noticed that he decided to say nothing at all. She smirked lightly and slowly climbed onto the bed, crawling her way slowly over to him.

"I'm not going to stop bothering you until you tell me what's up," she sat on her knees and rested her chin on his left shoulder, looking at the side of his face.

Paul remained quiet. He wasn't in the mood to discuss his problems, especially with her.

Giselle kept looking at the side of his face and then slowly pressed her lips upon his cheek. "Don't be so tense," she whispered.

"_I hope you _die_."_

Paul licked his lips, remembering those words Dawn said to him again.

Giselle slowly slipped her hand into Paul's lap, causing him to snap out of his thoughts. He turned his body to look at her and she sat back, looking at him.

She bit down on her lower lip and he stared at it for a while. He also noticed that she had a scar across her forehead, a bit curious about where she got it from, but he didn't bother asking.

"How's another round sound?" She spoke up, breaking the silence.

After thinking for a moment, Paul licked his lips and grabbed her leg, pulling her close to him. He pressed his lips onto hers.

* * *

Tonight, she told herself that she would practice in the dance room and wouldn't let anyone or anything interrupt her from doing so.

Dawn cleared her throat and placed her radio down on the table, looking at the large mirror in front of her.

She had her hair pulled up into a high bun, wearing only a sapphire blue tank top and black shorts with her beige dance shoes.

All day she was crying her eyes out over Paul and what he said to her.

"_At least I'm not a whore like you."_

A whore…

Dawn took a moment to continue looking at herself in the mirror.

"_And you lost your virginity to me?"_

She could feel his eyes on her as she stared at herself.

"_You're pathetic."_

She slowly clenched her fist at her side.

"_Did you like it when I hit it from the back?"_

Dawn snapped her eyes shut, feeling his words ring through her head once again.

"_How about when you sucked my dick, did you like that?"_

Her fist kept getting tighter and tighter as she let out a shaky breath. She gulped lightly and then slowly opened her eyes, seeing her reflection again.

She was staring at a girl who looked completely broken. She held no light on her face at all.

* * *

Ash sighed as he took a moment to sit at a table with his friends. They were now taking a break from playing—all out of breath and drinking their water bottles.

Ash placed his basketball on his lap and watched as the boys now got on their phones.

"That last play was a piece of cake," Jimmy, a boy with navy blue hair and had a snap back on his head, said.

"I swear that skinny white guy and the Hispanic one ain't got nothing on us." Brock, the spiky haired guy commented.

The team laughed at that comment and Ash's attention immediately fell towards Gary when he heard the mere mention of Giselle's name.

"Yo, look how _fine _Giselle looks," Leighton, a boy with dirty blonde hair commented, pointing at the picture on his phone.

Curious, Ash stared at Leighton's phone, suspicious about the picture they were looking at of her.

Gary's eyes narrowed at the picture in Leighton's phone as well as the rest of the team members. Ash was becoming very curious, what picture were they looking at of her? And why was it so important?

"Ash, isn't this the girl you keep chasing?" Jimmy grabbed Leighton's phone and showed it to Ash.

When his eyes landed on the picture on the phone, he was instantly shocked.

It was a picture of her naked and she looked very young in the face. Her make up wasn't done very exotic like how she always does it and her hair was very, very curly and not wavy like how she usually had it now.

Furrowing his eyebrows together, Ash grabbed the phone from Jimmy's hands and clicked on the user that posted the photo. There was three other photos of her posted and each caption said something like 'Doesn't this babe look so good?', and 'I want to fuck her so hard," Ash even clicked on the comments people left and saw how disrespectful guys was being, including girls.

He felt himself becoming even more upset. So _these _are the photos Silas posted of her? _These _are the photos that ruined her life?

"Not gonna lie man, she got a banging body." Leighton laughed, joking around.

"Shut up," Ash snapped, the anger lingering on his voice.

He looked up from the phone and stared at the boys.

Gary hardened his eyes on Ash though. "That's the same girl in the picture?"

Ash narrowed his eyes on Gary, his lips shaking and he closed them shut.

"You should most definitely hit it," Jimmy joked.

"Can you shut the _fuck _up?" Ash growled, his eyes snapping on Jimmy.

The boys got quiet, a bit surprised about Ash's sudden anger. It wasn't like Ash to curse, he never cursed unless he was extremely upset about something.

Gary kept his eyes on Ash, knowing that he was getting upset. But Gary was upset too. "I knew she was no good, Ash."

Ash looked down at the table, trying his best to control himself.

"That's naked pictures of her. She's a whore, just like I said—"

Ash immediately got up, slamming the basketball down onto the table, his hand keeping the basketball still and his eyes hard on Gary. This is the first time Gary and the other guys saw him so upset and so worked up. "Those pictures doesn't prove anything. You don't know what happened to her, so I suggest be quiet."

"Or what, Ash?" Gary got up too.

The boys can feel the tension that was starting, but Gary and Ash continued to look at each other darkly.

* * *

Dawn placed her CD into the radio and clicked play.

She started to take steps backward as she now got in the center of the dance room, locking her eyes on herself in the large mirror again, hearing the base on the music that was starting.

She closed her eyes shut and took another breath of air. She needed to keep her mind focused on this dance and not mess up at all, she just couldn't let Paul get in between those thoughts, no matter how hurt and angry she felt.

"_If we lay down, would it make it better? Going up against the force."_

Dawn snapped her eyes open and she immediately let herself get lost into the music, pushing away bad thoughts of Paul and Giselle.

"_One man army, knights in the rings. Take me to the highest courts."_

Ash and Gary were now facing each other with fists clenched and tension forming between them.

The boys got up, knowing what was about to go down, but Ash wasn't prepared to back down and neither was Gary.

"What are you gonna do, Ash?" Gary threatened, taking a step closer to the raven haired basketball player.

Ash licked his lips slowly and hardened his eyes on Gary. This time he wasn't scared, he was willing to fight this time. And it may have been over a girl, a girl he rarely knew at that, but he was willing to fight for her.

He just didn't like it that the team was looking at those pictures of her like she was a porn star cause she wasn't. None of them knew her story behind those photos, all they knew was that her photos have been leaked and a lot of people gossip about her. But none of them truly know that story behind those pictures except for Ash.

"_Dance with the devil in Rome. Behold the white horse. Kings take the throne... Not finished yet!"_

Dawn slowly slipped her eyes shut, her arms wrapped around herself as she slowly brought her head back, feeling the music enter her soul.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Ash sent his fist flying towards Gary's face, causing the whole team to react and make a lot of noise.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Giselle slammed Paul's body down on the bed, his back landing on the comforter and his eyes snapping up at her since she was sitting on top of him. He groaned at her actions and she let her hands run down his chest before bending down and latching her lips onto his, her hair falling over his face.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Dawn did a variety of dances from ballet to hip hop. She kept finding different dances to go with the song, but she was more focused on getting it perfected for her audition and she just didn't want to mess up, at least not again.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Gary was thrown back when Ash actually hit him in the face. He didn't think though, the first instinct was to clock him in the mouth and that's exactly what he did.

Ash felt the aftermath of that pain, feeling a severe cut forming on the bottom of his lips.

"Yooooo!" One of the team members yelled, but the two boys ignored them.

"_I'm no good for ya, I'ma break your heart. Too many places I gotta be,"_

Dawn took a deep breath of air as she slowly got down on the floor, deciding on what to do next. Her mind wasn't only on just the dance, but it was also on Paul.

"_Giselle seems like the kind of girl that I need anyway. She likes to fuck a lot, just like I do."_

The Blue Diamond sat there on the floor breathing heavily, slowly looking at herself in the mirror as her eyebrows furrowed together, her mind drifting towards Paul again.

"_I like fucking her." _She remembered him smiling as he said that. _"She's way better in bed than you are."_

"_One man army, I'm Joan of Arc. Gone see something you don't want to see."_

Dawn slowly brought her hands up to her head, slightly becoming irritated as she heard these words ringing through her ears again.

She snapped her eyes shut, not wanting him in her head at all.

"_Elevators lift me up outta this, I don't wanna be here no more."_

"You've got a lot of nerve, Ash." Gary growled, hardening his eyes on him.

Ash let his thumb brush under his lip at the wound and he threw another punch Gary's way, causing Gary to catch his fist with his hand and laughing at the action. "That's all you got?"

Ash raised his eyebrow and he instantly felt Gary throw a hard and aggressive punch at his stomach, sending him flying to the ground.

"_Dance with the devil in Rome. Behold the white horse. Kings take the throne… Not finished yet!"_

Giselle grabbed Paul's bottom lip with her teeth and chewed down on it. Paul's hands slowly moved down her back until it reached her ass, gripping it tightly.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Dawn slammed her hands down onto the floor and snapped her eyes open once more. "Get out of my head!" She screamed, her voice echoing in the room.

She didn't want him to ruin her night of practicing. She told herself a million times that she wouldn't let him mess her up.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Ash fell to ground, unconscious. He felt aching pain deep inside his stomach and he coughed up blood as he felt Gary now kicking at his sides as if he was some kid off the street.

He wanted to get up and fight back, but he was in so much pain.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Giselle pulled away from Paul's lips and sat up, beginning to rock her body against him. Paul placed his hands on each side of her waist as he watched her ride him, moaning and groaning and grabbing onto her hair.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Dawn felt tears brimming in her eyes and she found herself unable to pull herself together. She pulled off her bracelet that she had on and threw it at the ground, wishing that she had thrown it at his face.

Her lips trembled as she stared at the bracelet lying on the ground.

She began wondering if he was with Giselle at this current moment. Just the simple thought of them together made her heart twist in pain and she wanted to rip it out so bad. That's how hurt she felt.

"_And we started, started a war."_

"_At least I'm not a whore like you."_

Dawn pulled the strands of hair that was poking out from the sides of her bun and pulled them behind her ears.

How is she a whore? She never once slept with another guy or even cheated on him in that matter, so how exactly does that make her a whore? She has _always _been loyal to him.

If anyone's a whore, it's _him. He's _the one who slept with more than one person. _He's _the one who couldn't handle space so he ran to Giselle for comfort. _He's _the one who isn't loyal.

"_And we started, started a war."_

She wanted so badly for Paul to feel the same amount of pain that she was feeling. She wanted him to feel that agony that was forming in her heart.

"_And we started. I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Gary kept throwing punches and kicks at his way, as if he blacked out. He felt arms grabbing onto him, pulling him away from Ash so he wouldn't do anymore damage to him.

Brock and Jimmy screamed at Gary, trying to get him to stop and to calm down.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

"Relax Gary!" Jimmy yelled, pushing Gary hard in the chest.

"You guys fought enough, but it looks like Ash can't fight no more, so stop." Brock told him, getting serious.

Gary breathed heavily, his mind still focused on anger and he looked over at Ash on the ground, seeing the other team members grab him up.

"_I never meant to start a war… I never meant to start a war."_

Dawn shook her head and grabbed her bracelet from the ground. She got up on her feet and walked over to the desk where she placed her radio on.

"_I never meant to start a war..."_

She pressed the off button and grabbed the radio from the handle in her hands.

She couldn't practice tonight.

* * *

Tears fell from her cheek to her desk, but she ignored it as she continued to sew a dress for her mother in a sewing machine. Dawn offered to sew her mother's dress since she was going out on a date that night with someone. She didn't even bother on asking who it was since she was so caught up in her own problems.

Dawn assumed that maybe sewing her dress would probably take her mind off things, but she kept finding herself thinking about Paul.

She was taken out of her thoughts when she heard a slight knock on her door.

"Dawn?" Her mother, Johanna called.

Dawn instantly brought her hand up to her face to wipe up the tears that were falling from her eyes. "Yes?" she said lowly, returning to sewing her mother's dress.

Johanna took a moment to look at her daughter sewing her dress, wondering if something was wrong since she sounded a bit sad about something. "What's wrong, Dawn?"

"It's nothing, mom." She lied, her eyes on the dress and continuing to sew.

Johanna knew her daughter too well to know that was a lie. "Then how come you look so down?"

Dawn didn't bother to look at her mother, she just continued to sew and remained quiet.

Her mother let out a soft sigh and leaned against the doorway. "Is it Paul?" she said, curious.

Dawn didn't answer, but her mother didn't miss how her eyes began to water up a bit by the mention of his name.

She blinked her tears back and continued to sew, not in the mood to talk about her problems with Paul at all.

"What did he do?" Her mother asked.

"So who's the guy you're going out with, mom?" Dawn asked, instantly changing the subject. She would do anything to talk about something else other than Paul.

Johanna closed her mouth shut, knowing what her daughter was doing. She sighed, "Well his name is Dylan and he is really, really kind."

Dawn smiled at that, continuing to sew her mother's dress. She was almost done sewing, she just had to finish up one of the sleeves. "Is he cute?"

Johanna blushed at that, laughing lightly at her comment. "Yeah, he's cute I guess."

"I guess?" Dawn raised her eyebrow.

"Okay, he's really cute."

Dawn laughed at this, now beginning to sew the sleeve. "Well, I hope you have fun tonight, mom."

"Me too." Johanna smiled.

It only took just a few seconds to finish sewing the sleeve. "All done," Dawn stopped the sewing machine and brought the dress up to get a better view of the dress. "Here you go, mom."

Johanna took it from her hands and smiled at the way she sewed her dress. "Thanks, Dawn."

"No problem."

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about Paul?"

Dawn stared at her mom and then shook her head. "Yeah, I'm sure. There's no need to worry."

Johanna raised her eyebrow. "And you know what happens every time you tell me not to worry?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dawn rolled her eyes. "That's when you worry the most… but I'm serious mom, I'll be fine."

Her mother smiled again. "Okay."

Dawn nodded.

"Ash is here to see you."

Dawn looked at her mom again.

"He looks like he got hurt really bad, I'm a bit concerned about him." Johanna told her.

"He's hurt?" Dawn furrowed her eyebrows together.

"Yeah, he's downstairs in the living room."

Instantly, Dawn brushed past her mother and went to the living room to find Ash.

When she made it inside the living room, she gasped lightly when she saw how bad he looked in the face. He was holding an ice pack at his forehead.

"Oh my god," she went up to him to analyze his face. "What happened?"

Ash sighed, still feeling a lot of pain. "Me and Gary had a fight."

"Gary did this to you?" She sounded like she was shocked and Ash couldn't blame her.

"Yeah,"

"Why?" She wondered, a bit confused. She brought her hand up to his head to touch around the wound and he winced, she also noticed a scar across his bottom lip.

"There was these old naked pictures of Giselle he was looking at with the rest of the team and it kinda pissed me off." Dawn's eyebrow twitched slightly at the sound of her name.

"He was calling her a whore and stuff and it was making me mad. So I guess I just lashed out on him."

"Well, she is a whore." Dawn mumbled, anger filling inside of her again.

"What?" Ash furrowed his eyebrows together.

By the look in Ash's face, Dawn sighed and dropped her hand to her side. "Sorry," she mumbled.

She knew how Ash felt about Giselle, but she hated her so much, especially now since she was sleeping with Paul.

Ash breathed and dropped his arm to his side with his ice pack. He winced in pain again and Dawn was wondering how hurt he was.

"How bad did he hurt you?"

"My stomach is killing me," he groaned, touching his stomach.

Dawn wrapped her arm around him and began to walk him. "Let's go to my room," she suggested.

It only took a few moments to get him inside her room and she let him sit on the edge of her bed.

"Wait here. I'll go get the first aid kit, a bowl of water, and a rag."

Ash nodded his head and brought the ice pack back up to his head where the wound was.

Dawn headed toward the kitchen to find the first aid kit.

"I'm about to head out, Dawn," her mother said, walking towards the front door.

Dawn grabbed a bowl and instantly filled it with water from the sink. "Okay, have fun mom!"

"Make sure Ash gets home safely too, I don't want his mother to worry about his whereabouts, especially after getting hurt."

"Alright!"

Dawn listened as the front door closed and she grabbed a dry rag from one of the kitchen drawers. After getting everything she needed, she walked upstairs to her room.

Ash was still sitting on the edge of the bed with an ice pack at his forehead. He looked over at Dawn and saw as she set the things down on her desk.

"You should probably get more comfortable if your stomach hurts so much," she suggested, turning her attention to the rag.

Ash let out a shaky breath again and placed the ice pack down on the bed. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it up out of his head, tossing it to the side.

Dawn placed the rag into a bowl of water and then pulled it out, squeezing it tightly so the dripping water won't fall to the floor. After getting out the water, she grabbed the first aid kit in hand and turned around briefly. Her eyes widened slightly when she now saw that Ash was shirtless.

Her mouth dropped slightly when she saw this and her eyes couldn't help but wander its way down his muscular toned body and how fitted he looked. _He looked good._

Dawn bit down on her bottom lip and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. When she said he could get comfortable, she didn't think he would take off his shirt.

She slowly walked over to him and stood in front of him.

Ash winced again in pain and Dawn placed the first aid kit on the bed, beside him. She first took a good view at his stomach and noticed a huge bruise and a big scar on it. "That looks bad," she frowned.

Dawn brought the rag toward his wound and Ash winced again, feeling her tapping on it gently to wipe off the blood.

Ash slowly looked at what she was doing, watching as she cleaned up the blood with the rag. "So what's going on with you and Paul?"

She continued to clean up his wound, in no mood to talk about Paul at all. "We're fine," she lied.

He watched her stare intently at his wound and saw that she placed the rag down and went to find a band aid. She took out a few band aids and placed at least five of them on his wound.

"Are you sure?" he wondered.

"Yeah, everything's okay." Dawn walked over to her dresser again and placed the rag into the water, watching as his blood left the rag and went into the water. She pulled it out and then squeezed out the water again, now walking back over to him.

She began to dab his forehead with the rag.

"Do you think Giselle is ever gonna want me?" he stared into her eyes as he said this.

Dawn was in no mood to talk about her at all. The mere mention of her name always seemed to piss her off. "If she doesn't, fuck her." She said, a bit with an attitude. Ash raised his eyebrow at her sudden tone. "Misty was a better girl for you anyway…"

Ash frowned at that comment. "Yeah,"

Dawn sighed as she continued to dab his forehead, now looking into his eyes.

"_I can't handle you guys being fucking friends."_

Paul.

"_I don't know if you realize this, but every time you're around him, I feel like your emotions are more real towards him and it really pisses me the fuck off—"_

"_Seriously? You still think I have feelings for him? Come on now, I'm dating you! Not him! I've been with you for a long time! I'm crazy in love with you! I've fucking slept with you!"_

"_That doesn't prove shit. You wish it were him, instead of me. It's always been Ash and you know it. He's always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things. He's the one that you wish you were with, not me."_

Dawn cleared her throat silently and continued to stare at Ash's eyes and then letting her eyes fall on his lips.

"_I just… don't like him. He talks just like my brother. Friends, trust. My brother says those things all the time too."_

"_But Paul, Ash isn't Reggie. Ash is Ash and that's that."_

"_I know. I'm just afraid of losing you, that's all."_

She slowly let her eyes fall back on his eyes and Ash raised his eyebrow, wondering what was going on.

"_Giselle seems like the kind of girl that I need anyway. She likes to fuck a lot, just like I do." He continued, now getting serious._

_By the look on his face, Dawn could tell that he was changing._

"_I like fucking her." Paul smiled. "She's way better in bed than you are."_

"Dawn, what are you…?" Ash furrowed his eyebrows together when he noticed what she was trying to do.

Dawn didn't think, her mind was all over the place. She was just angry and hurt at the same time. She didn't know what she was about to do, but she just took a risk anyway.

Instantly, she pressed her lips against Ash's, taking him by surprise.

* * *

**A/N: Oooooh, now Dawn kissed Ash. It's like a whole twist lol.**

**So I proofread this chapter like once or twice, but it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm really tired right now, so I'll proofread the rest tomorrow because I keep falling asleep.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Start a War by Margeaux**

**Let me know what you guys think about Dawn and Giselle's fight, Dawn and Paul's confrontation, Paul's behavior towards Dawn, and Dawn's actions with Ash! I wanna know everyone's thoughts, so review please. (:**


	20. Deep Crimson

**A/N: I love how everybody cannot stand Paul. I honestly can't stand him either, but I really wanted to write him based off how some guys are in this world sadly... I hate writing fairytales because to be honest, this world isn't perfect, a lot of messed up stuff happens every day, soo…. I am making this fic based off the real world. I personally feel like it's more interesting that way. (:**

**So there's officially 4 chapters left for this story! But these 4 chapters are long, sort of, but a lot of events happen. Hopefully you guys will enjoy the ride. (:**

**Now let's see… what happened last chapter? Oh yeah, Dawn kissed Ash… but does she go further? (; let's see what happens next!**

_**Deep Crimson **_**symbolizes shame.**

* * *

Her first instinct was to kiss him and that's exactly what she did.

All the time, Paul kept accusing her of having feelings for Ash and it made her wonder if she actually did have feelings for him. She was so confused and so angry at that moment that she decided to kiss him, just to see if her feelings for him were true.

Dawn pressed her lips harder onto Ash's and surprisingly he kissed her back just as deeply as she was. She moved her lips with his in sync and slowly moved her body onto his lap, her chest pressing against his shirtless one. While kissing him, all she could think about is how much of a good kisser Ash is. She never once looked at Ash in a romantic way, but after kissing him, she could feel herself getting lost by the feel of his lips against hers.

As she continued to make out with him, thoughts of Paul kept coming into her head and she got angry all over again.

If Paul is having sex with Giselle, then why can't she and Ash do it? Paul doesn't care, so why should she?

Thinking these thoughts, Dawn started moving her hand down his chest until it reached his pants and she began to unbuckle his belt, but she felt Ash push her back, causing her to open her eyes and take a breath of air.

"Dawn," Ash gasped, looking at her with wide eyes.

She stared at him, her mouth open.

"What are you doing?" He asked her, a bit confused with her actions.

She stared at him for a while and then slowly let her eyes wander toward his bare chest.

She thought she would feel better when she kissed him and have attempted sex with him, but she didn't feel anything. She just felt worse. "I just…"

Her mind wandered off to Paul again and she began realizing why she did it again.

Ash stared at her, waiting for her to answer him.

"There's something that you should know." She whispered, slowly looking at him again.

"What?" He raised his eyebrow, now curious.

"Giselle isn't the girl you think she is…" Dawn started.

Ash furrowed his eyebrows together, becoming even more curious. "What do you mean?"

"She's sleeping with Paul." Dawn blurted out. "She told me. They've been fucking each other… and I think it started since I broke up with Paul… I also kind of got into a fight with her earlier at school today, if you didn't notice…"

Ash opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

His eyes moved down to the floor, not sure of how to react to this news.

"I kissed you because… I don't know. I'm just hurt okay,"

Ash shook his head. He felt betrayed.

All that stuff Giselle went through and then she ends up sleeping with Paul? Ash was beginning to believe she'll never change.

"That's messed up what he did to you." Ash mumbled, clenching his fist. "He accuses your loyalty for him and he ends up being the one who's not loyal to you."

Dawn frowned at this. "I know how you feel about Giselle, but she's really fucked up. She doesn't care, Ash… and neither does Paul."

Ash remained quiet and stared at the floor for a bit.

"I'm sorry…" Dawn trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

Ash grabbed his shirt and put it on, wincing slightly at the pain.

"Do you think we should… get back at them?" Dawn wondered, looking at him. He looked over at her with a questionable look.

"Like have sex, just like how they're doing?" She asked.

Ash stared at her for a long moment and shook his head, getting up and grabbing his ice pack again. "No," he answered. "You're my friend, Dawn. I don't look at you as anything else."

"I know, Ash. But don't you think we should do it?" She stared at him, not knowing what else to do. "I mean,_ they_ are… and they don't care about us."

Ash shook his head again. "What's that going to do? That isn't going to make us feel any better. And anyway, I don't feel comfortable using you Dawn. I'm not that kind of person."

Dawn frowned and watched as he walked slowly to her doorway.

"I just… I don't know what to do, Ash."

"I know, but us using each other isn't going to solve anything. I'm sorry, Dawn." Ash placed the ice pack on his forehead and left out of her room.

Dawn frowned slightly as she watched him leave.

He was most definitely right. Using him really wouldn't solve anything.

* * *

Days passed and it was getting closer and closer to Prom week.

Paul spent most of the time hooking up with Giselle. He looked at her as nothing else but a toy, and she didn't mind being his toy. But as days passed, he became bored of her and he was starting to get tired of fooling around with her.

First, he wanted her for self-pleasure and to get his mind off of Dawn, but now he was beginning to feel really shitty ever since Dawn confronted him about his behavior.

He remembered saying horrible things to her, something that he knew he couldn't take back. It made him realize how much he hurt her, especially after she told him that she hopes he'd _die._

Paul frowned as he looked at his phone, staring at her Instagram. All the pictures she had of him and her were all deleted and that was enough to prove to him that she was very hurt and angry at him. He shook his head and placed his phone down.

Giselle had been putting on her clothes and gathering her things together. Paul looked over at her, watching as she put on her clothes.

"I think we should stop hooking up," Paul decided.

She paused for a moment and turned her head to look at him, her eyebrow raised. "You want to stop having the best sex of your life?"

Paul hardened his eyes on her slightly at that comment. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not that great at it."

Her mouth fell open at that comment and she shook her head, quickly pulling her pants up. "Then why did you keep coming to me whenever you felt horny?" She said, now upset.

Paul tore his eyes off of her and pulled his grey shirt on, his hair falling sloppily on his head. "Because you're always looking for sex."

"Are you calling me easy?" Giselle snapped her head at him, now finished with getting dressed. She had her arms folded beneath her chest.

He rolled his eyes at that comment. "Why do you sound so surprised? You always been that way."

"I am _not _easy." She responded, now serious.

Paul scoffed. "If you're not easy, then why do you keep throwing yourself at any guy for sex?"

She felt her jaw clench as he continued. "You said a million times that you hate romance, so you use sex for self-pleasure. That's being easy. As a matter of fact, that's being a whore."

"You are such a dick—!"

"I'm a dick because I'm telling the truth?" Paul laughed, now getting up. "See, that's what I don't get about you, Giselle. You act like a hoe all the time, but you hate it when you're being called one."

Giselle was about to open her mouth to say something, but Paul beat her to it. "If you don't want to be called a hoe, stop _acting _like one." He snapped. "It's fucking common sense."

He shook his head and brushed passed her, in no mood to deal with her stupidity.

"You don't get it!" She shrieked, now completely upset. "I've been through a lot, a lot of shit you don't know about!"

"Oh, save it." Paul rolled his eyes. "I really don't give a fuck about you and your pathetic sob story to back up why you are such a whore."

Giselle closed her lips shut as she saw him now turn around to face her. He saw her eyes darken on him, but he really didn't care. "Fine. Whatever. You're just pissed off because _you _screwed things up with Dawn." She now walked up to him, her face dangerously close to his face and her brown eyes hard on his onyx ones. "Well Newsflash Paul. I may be a whore, like you said. But I wasn't the one who started this whole thing. You came to me, remember? You kissed _me. _So now, who's the whore here?"

Paul felt his fist clench at his side as his jaw clenched too. His eyes darkened on her.

"Have fun _suffering._" She brushed past him and soon left out of his room.

* * *

"Hey, Paul." Reggie greeted, taking a seat next to Paul on the couch.

He had the television on, but he wasn't watching it, he was just staring at it as if in deep thought. Reggie wondered if he was still stressed out about Dawn.

"Still stressed out about Dawn?"

Paul licked his lips and kept his eyes on the television screen. "I made things worse."

Reggie raised his eyebrow. "What did you do?"

Paul remained silent for a while before speaking. "… I've been having sex with Giselle." He stated bluntly.

Reggie stared at his brother in surprise, a bit shocked that he would do something like that. "What?" he gasped. "I know you could be so careless about a lot of things Paul, but I didn't think you would do something like that."

Paul shrugged, sighing just a little. "I was mad about the break up thing. And I wanted to fuck and Giselle is the only girl that likes fucking, so I don't know… she was keeping me company."

Reggie sighed, shaking his head. Paul acted like his zodiac sign very well. He was a Gemini and carried most of the traits such as being very fickle and inconsistent.

"Does Dawn know?"

Paul nodded his head and brought his blunt up to his lips. Reggie waited for a moment and watched as his brother let smoke out into the air. "Yeah… she was really hurt and she told me to die."

Paul furrowed his eyebrows together as he remembered her words again.

"_I hope you _die_."_

Reggie frowned.

"I fucked up," Paul mumbled, licking his lips again. "I fucking… made things worse. And I honestly think that she'll never forgive me."

"Do you love her?"

Paul remained quiet, but Reggie already knew the answer to that. "If you love her, you need to fight for her." Reggie told him.

Paul sighed again. "But she doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. I messed up everything."

"One thing I do know about her is that she really loves you, Paul. I mean, she _truly _loves you and she will forgive you. She's just hurting right now."

Paul frowned again and then looked over at his brother. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Ash couldn't stand it. She kept doing the same thing every time he saw her. She kept making out with plenty of guys, sucking their faces off every time he saw her, and he found himself getting angrier and angrier, especially since after finding out she's been sleeping with Paul.

"_Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on, just keep on pressin' on. Sky is the limit and you know that you can have what you want, be what you want."_

He hardened his eyes on her, watching as she sucked off some random guys face. It was really pissing him off. If she doesn't like being treated as an easy kind of girl, then why is she even acting this way? It was really making him mad.

Ash took another sip of his vodka and slammed his glass down on the counter. He's _had _it. He is going to make her stop whether she liked it or not.

Ash got up on his feet and stormed his way over to her. He didn't think, he grabbed the guy she was making out with by the collar, pulling him away from her. "I need to have a talk with _her." _He demanded.

"Dude, we're kind of busy here." The guy said with an attitude as he tried to kiss Giselle again, but Ash grabbed him by the arm this time, his fist up and ready to punch the guy in the face.

Giselle stared at Ash, a bit confused about why he was so angry and ready to fight the guy she was making out with.

"_I said_, I need to talk to her." He spat, repeating himself.

The guy glared at Ash and shook his head. "Whatever man," he walked off and Ash watched as he left.

After seeing the guy leave off to find some other girl to flirt with, he locked his eyes on Giselle who seemed to look irritated.

"I'm getting sick and tired of you acting this way," he said in anger.

"And who are you to boss me around? I can do whatever the hell I want." She argued.

"God, you are _such _a hypocrite!" Ash snapped, causing her to raise her eyebrow at him. "You claim that Silas seems to be the problem for why you're the way you are, but really it's not his fucking problem."

Giselle stared at Ash, a bit surprised with his outburst. He never once cursed, at least not in front of her. He must have been very angry with her since he was now cursing at her. "Yeah, he posted those photos of you and made things change. But you keep allowing everyone to treat you like you're a fucking item. _You _decided to sleep around with every guy you see, _you _decided to let everyone harass you. So really, if you want to point fucking fingers, point it at you. Cause _you're _the problem. Not Silas."

Her lips trembled at his words and she felt her heart beginning to beat fast. She had never seen Ash this angry before and she had never felt so ashamed of herself until now.

"Really, Ash?" She stood in front of him, hardening her eyes on him now and trying her hardest to fight back the tears that she felt beginning to form in her eyes. "I thought you of all people actually cared about me."

"I do," Ash told her, anger still in his tone. "But I'm tired of trying to get through to you when all you care about is yourself and nothing else."

"That's not true…" Giselle whispered.

"Yes, it is." He spat. "I look fucking ridiculous trying to help you when all you do is do the same thing, all the damn time."

She felt her heart beginning to ache at his words.

"I lost my best friend because of _you_," he growled. "And my team? They all feel like I'm wasting my time on someone like you and honestly, I'm starting to feel like I am, 'cause you know what?"

Giselle felt tears beginning to blur in her eyes again and she did her best to blink them back, but instead they began to roll down her cheek.

Ash paused for a moment, seeing tears falling from her cheeks. Usually, he feels bad for making someone cry and is quick to fix it, but this time he didn't feel bad. This time he just had it with her, he was tired of feeling mistreated. "You're selfish, Giselle. You're _very _selfish and conceited. And you're also a bitch. I'm tired of wasting my time on someone who doesn't care about me or how I feel."

Giselle opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

"No," he growled again, becoming even more upset. "I deserve someone who cares about me and appreciates everything that I do for them. You're very ungrateful for everything that I do for you, and I don't deserve someone like that."

Giselle felt her heart twisting as more tears fell from her eyes. She closed her mouth shut, not knowing what to say.

"_Sky is the limit and you know that you can have what you want, be what you want, have what you want, be what you waaant…"_

"If you want to continue being a whore, a slut, a bitch… then be my guest. Because I'm tired of trying to help you." Ash stared at her for one final time and shook his head, now turning around.

Her mouth fell slightly open and Giselle watched as he left her, taking in everything he had said all at once.

Ash just couldn't take it anymore. He just couldn't. She was hurting him and he was tired of feeling hurt. He knew he deserved someone so much better and every time he realized this, he realized how much he missed Misty even more.

* * *

"This is Dawn. Sorry, I can't make it to the phone right now, so leave a message."

The phone made a loud beep noise.

Paul sighed as he pulled his phone down from his ear.

He called her at least ten times that night and she hadn't answered not one of them. Paul wasn't really surprised that she wouldn't answer though. Why would she answer him after what he did?

Paul frowned, looking at the city before him.

He was currently sitting at the rooftop of his building, smoking away. Usually, he goes on the rooftop with Drew to smoke and to jump onto other buildings, but this time he just wanted to be up there by himself, in his own thoughts.

It was getting closer and closer to Prom night and Paul wondered if she still wanted to go with him.

Senior Prom meant a lot to him, only because _she _meant a lot to him. He always hated Prom—always looked at it like it was just another dance. But ever since Dawn came into his life, ever since he fell in love with her, it became important to him. He never went to any of the school's dances, but he felt that Prom, _Senior _Prom was important and he wanted Dawn to be his date.

Paul frowned again. He wondered that now he screwed things up, that maybe she wouldn't want to go with him anymore.

Sometimes he wished he didn't do the things he did. He was just upset, upset at the fact that she even wanted to have space. He knew he was wrong for accusing her of her loyalty to him, but he just felt like there was something about Ash that she'll always have a soft spot for. She may not realize what is it, but he certainly does.

He probably felt so intimidated by him because he knew that Ash has always been a good friend to Dawn. Ash has always been sort of like a best friend to her. But he didn't like that because he personally felt that _he _should be considered as Dawn's best friend, not Ash. Isn't a boyfriend also supposed to be your best friend?

Paul stared at the building in front of him, slowly bringing his cigarette up to his lips.

Paul just hated that she was able to feel comfortable with Ash, talking about anything with him. He found himself wishing that she could feel the same way whenever she talked with _him_—Not Ash, _him._

The smoke soon escaped his lips and he breathed it out into the air, watching as it disappeared into the atmosphere.

Maybe he did have difficulty finding trust in her, but it was only because he's scared.

He's scared of losing her and this time he felt like he lost her for good.

* * *

"_Woke up quick, at about noon just thought that I had to be in Compton soon. I gotta get drunk before the day begins, before my mother starts bitchin' about my friends."_

Ash was really pissed off, like _really _pissed off.

After hearing the news about Paul and Giselle hooking up, he found this anger in him that he didn't even know he had. It's been a couple days since he's been trying to cope with this news, but after seeing Giselle that night, he needed to see Paul next.

All this time Paul kept doubting Dawn's love for him, assuming that she has feelings for _him_, not Paul, Ash. It really pissed him off because he knows how much she loves him and yet he does something that fucked up to her. Paul didn't deserve to be walking around like some saint. He needed to get a taste of his own medicine.

As Ash walked to Paul's building, he instantly spotted Paul walking down the street two blocks down from his building, and by this Ash immediately picked up the pace and walked over to the asshole.

"_Cruisin' down the street in my 6,4. Jockin' the bitches, slappin' the hoes. Went to the park to get the scoop, knuckleheads out there cold, shootin' some hoops."_

Ash wanted to get back at Paul anyway for punching him that one day a long time ago and also trying to start a fight with him in the dance room with Dawn. If Paul wants to fight him that much, then Ash personally thought that tonight should be their official fight.

"Hey!" He shouted angrily.

Paul raised his eyebrow at Ash and Ash was quick to notice his facial change because he had a plain look until it turned into a more serious one after he realized who had been the one calling for him.

"What do you want?" Paul growled, in no mood to speak with the basketball player at all.

"I want to fight you." Ash shouted, standing directly in front of him, showing no fear in his face.

Paul stared at the basketball player in front of him and chuckled lightly at that comment. "Well that's pathetic because you know I can fuck you up easily. I left you a fucked up nose the last time, if you forgot."

"That's because you caught me off guard." Ash shot back. "But that's beside the point. I want to fight you here and now. We'll see who's a better fighter this time."

Paul rolled his eyes and tried to brush past Ash. "Go home," he said in annoyance.

"What, so you're a punk now?" Ash spoke up, stopping Paul from walking away from him.

Paul shot a hard glare at Ash.

"Come on, fight me."

"Why?" Paul asked in annoyance. It was weird to Paul seeing Ash suddenly wanting to fight him. Paul personally wouldn't mind fighting Ash because he simply hated the guy, but he did find it strange how Ash suddenly wanted to fight him out of nowhere.

"Because you always had a problem with me from the start." Ash pointed out. "You always believed Dawn has feelings for me right, so why not fight me now? A real fight this time."

Paul laughed. "What, you found out that I've been fucking Giselle?"

Paul could tell that he got Ash even angrier and he laughed at the sudden rage that was forming inside of the basketball player. "Honestly, I don't even know why you have feelings for her. She isn't your type and she really doesn't give a shit about you."

Angrily, Ash pushed Paul aggressively hard in the chest and that ticked off Paul, causing Paul to get even serious again.

He adjusted himself and stood in front of Ash. "You really wanna do this right now?" he growled.

Ash hardened his look on Paul. "You fucked Giselle and you broke Dawn's heart, so yeah, I want to do this right now."

Since Paul wasn't going to make a move, Ash decided to and he threw a hard punch at Paul's face with his right fist.

"_Down on B's is the place to give me the pace, he said ma man J.D. is on freebase. The boy J.D. was a friend of mine, 'till I caught him in my car tryin' to steal the alpine."_

The impact on the hit left Paul bleeding in his mouth and this was enough to get him pumped up. After Paul regained his composure, he threw a punch towards Ash too and this time ten times harder than the punch Ash gave him. Ash's face jerked to his right and he almost fell toward the ground, but he caught his balance.

That punch Paul threw at him was very hard and he almost felt like he fainted, but Ash quickly caught sight of Paul again and he felt Paul grab him by his collar and slammed him onto a car's driver door, his back leaning hard against the door and his back nearly breaking the glass. Paul gripped Ash's collar hard and threw another punch at Ash's face, lots of blood leaving his face as well. When Paul pushed Ash back even further, Ash's elbow slammed into the blind spot mirrors and glass pieces fell towards the floor.

As Ash purposely kept taking the hits, he kept trying to figure out where to catch Paul off guard. He never really fought much with anyone, besides Gary, but it wasn't like he didn't deserve to get his ass beat by Gary because he did. With all force, he pushed Paul off of him and then threw a punch at his face again. "That's for sleeping with Giselle!" He yelled angrily and then grabbed Paul by his collar and threw another punch at his face again. "And that's for breaking Dawn's heart!"

"'_Cause the boy's in the hood are always hard, you come talkin' that trash, well pull ya card. Knowin' nothing in life, but to be legit, don't quote me boy 'cause I ain't said shit."_

Paul was surprised by how strong Ash was. He always looked at Ash as a weakling, but to his surprise, Paul actually liked that Ash was beginning to step up his game. As Paul was leaning down, he could feel his nose bleeding and also blood falling from his mouth. He wiped his nose with his arm and then slowly brought his thumb up to his mouth and wiped off the blood that was leaving from his mouth. "You got a lot of guts," he said harshly.

"Well I'm not no punk, I can tell you that." Ash breathed, his fist balled up tightly at his side. He didn't want to fight Paul for fun, he wanted to fight Paul because he felt like Paul needed to be taught a lesson.

"_Bored as hell and I wanna get ill, so I went to a spot where my homeboy's chill. The fellas out there makin' that dollar, I pulled up in ma 6,4 impala."_

When Paul straightened his body up, he licked the leftover blood that was on his bottom lip and then he grabbed Ash. This time he threw his body on top of someone's car, Ash's weight cracking the window shield a lot. Paul pressed Ash tightly against the car and while holding him there, Paul threw non-stop punches at Ash's face. It was like he blacked out.

Ash was surprised that Paul even came at him harder by even throwing him on top of somebody's car. That was one hell of a bold move, but that didn't stop them from fighting one another. Ash sent his knee at Paul's gut and pushed him back roughly. As Paul let go of Ash, Ash let out a slow breath of air and slowly climbed off of the now damaged car.

The two was gaining an audience and Ash and Paul could almost hear someone yelling "That's my fucking car!".

When Ash got off the car, he grabbed Paul and pushed him toward the ground so now he could have the advantage at fighting. When Paul fell towards the ground, he felt Ash kicking him in his back and he groaned, grabbing Ash by his leg and making him fall to the ground as well.

They gained a lot of attention from people in the streets, but the fight kept going on. Ash was sending punches, Paul was sending punches. At first, Ash was in control, punching and kicking, then Ash was now on his back, Paul on top of him and throwing punches at his chest. The two was equally as strong, but Ash wouldn't admit it to Paul. He knew Paul lived in dangerous environments his whole life, so of course he would have strength, but Ash would never admit that to Paul. As Paul kept throwing punches at him, Ash forced out a light laugh and said boldly, "You punch like a female."

"Oh really?" Just by hearing that slick comment, Paul sent another punch at Ash's face just for that.

Ash's hand began to wander toward the ground and he grabbed onto a broken glass piece that was on the floor. At first, he just wanted to grab onto something so he could take the lead and continue the fight with Paul again, but instead he slammed it across Paul's arm and that's when he realized he had grabbed onto a broken glass that came from the blind spot mirror of that car they had damaged.

"Fuck!" Paul groaned, pulling back after feeling the deep cut Ash had given him with the glass. Paul was surprised to find that Ash would even try such a thing. So he wanted to kill him now? Just by Ash trying that, Paul wanted to do much more damage to him.

Ash kicked Paul with his foot, pushing Paul back and then he dropped the glass from his hands. He knew what he was holding was sharp since it was cutting his own hand, but he didn't exactly take the time to stop and think about what it was that he had grabbed onto.

Ash didn't want to stab Paul, he was just caught up in the fight that it just happened all too fast.

Police sirens was going off in the air and many people were panicking at the brutal street fight.

Angrily, Paul grabbed Ash by his collar and pushed his body back against the car they had just damaged, grabbing him by the neck hard and rough. "So you trying to kill me now, huh?" he growled. "I thought you said you wanted to fight and see who's the best fighter here. That doesn't involve stabbing me with a fucking glass!" Paul snapped. He was just so ticked off that Ash even used a glass on him. Ash said he wanted to fight hand on hand, that didn't mean there would be any weapons involved. To him, that showed how much of a punk Ash is. Angrily, Paul jammed his knee into Ash's gut and caused Ash to fall to the ground.

Police got there faster than Paul even expected, and he felt himself being pulled away from Ash and his face being slammed onto the hood of someone's car, his wrists being slammed to his back as he felt a pair of cuffs being clamped around them.

"Relax!" The police guy that was handling Paul yelled angrily, holding Paul down pretty roughly.  
"You have the right to remain silent when questioned. Anything you say or do may be used against you in a court of law!" He shouted.

Paul was so out of it and he struggled to get out of the cuffs but the officer kept pushing his face harder against the hood of the car. "Keep on trying to struggle buddy 'cause I will shoot your fucking brains out if you say or do one more thing."

Paul groaned from under his breath after realizing that there was nothing he could do.

Ash was thrown onto the hood of another car too, his wrists held tightly against his lower back as another police officer wrapped cuffs around his wrists, saying the Miranda Rights to him as well.

After handcuffing the both of them, the police men forced Ash and Paul to stand up straight and guided them to their car.

As soon as they got to the car, the police men shoved the both of them in the back of the car roughly.

"The both of you will remain silent. You got that!?" One of the police men yelled.

Paul kept a hard look and he didn't even bother to look at that police man. He just glared and stared through the metal fence created inside of the car. Ash stared straight ahead at the seat in front of him, deciding not to say anything in response either.

When the police slammed the door shut, Paul kept his eyes on the rearview mirror, seeing the policemen now gathering and talking amongst each other outside.

It got quiet for a few seconds in the car and Ash could feel the tension that was forming. They were both equally hurt and bleeding in the face, but Paul was more hurt since he got stabbed in his arm. His wound was pretty bad and he was sure that he needed to go to the hospital to get stitches or something.

"Can't believe you fucking stabbed me." Paul groaned quietly, hissing slightly at that pain in his arm.

Ash kept his eyes on the metal fence in front of him and glared too. "I didn't know I grabbed onto a glass piece."

"Shows how much of a punk you really are,"

"I'm the punk? Okay. Well you were the one who didn't hit me first." Ash argued back.

"I wasn't in the mood to fight your punk ass. I had other shit to deal with." Paul groaned.

"Yeah, like what?"

"It's none of your fucking business."

Just then the two immediately fell silent when two policemen entered the car and slammed their doors shut.

Paul shot one last glare at Ash and Ash shot one last glare at Paul.

The policemen sitting in the front turned their heads to look at Ash and Paul. Ash and Paul both looked at them, the both of them shooting the policemen death glares. Both policemen laughed in their faces and turned their heads back to the front.

"Teenagers these days," one of them mumbled.

The engine soon started and the policeman in the driver's seat began driving.

* * *

**A/N: Ash and Paul's fight was some serious shit, now that the police are involved. Haha, but it's not like Paul didn't deserve to get an ass beating and I personally felt like he deserved to be stabbed by Ash lol. **

**Songs used in this chapter: Sky's The Limit by The Notorious B.I.G., Boyz N The Hood by Eazy E**

**I want to know what you guys thought about with Ash turning Dawn down on the sex, Paul finally realizing he's being a dick, Ash's confrontation with Giselle, and the big fight between Ash and Paul. Let me know in the reviews! (:**


	21. Lilac

**A/N: So I took the time to go through my reviews and I even got to speak to a real police officer, so I decided to rewrite the fight scene from last chapter. Before anyone goes on with reading this chapter, please re-read the last part where Ash and Paul fight because I did some important changes!**

…

**For this chapter, I'm including some law stuff that Ash and Paul have to follow and that's why I talked to a police officer in the first place because I don't know how jail, etc works out with street fights and stuff. **

_**Lilac **_**symbolizes new awakenings.**

* * *

Paul hissed quietly when he felt the nurse dab his wound with a soft cloth. He stared hard at the wound and took another look at the nurse before him. She had just stitched his wound up since it seemed really deep, but Paul appreciated the fact that this woman took the time to stitch his bad stab wound.

"Thanks," he mumbled, tearing his eyes off of her.

The nurse dabbed his stitched wound once more with a soft cloth and then slowly leaned back. "You're welcome," she said softly, placing his cloth inside of a tray.

Paul slowly narrowed his eyes at one of the officers that was leaning at the doorway watching them. Since he got to the jail, he was being watched by the police. He groaned silently and slowly turned his head to the nurse again.

The nurse continued to dab his wound and when she was done, she smiled at him and said, "All done." She narrowed her eyes at the officer who was standing at the doorway. "You can take him now," she said.

Paul kept a plain face and hopped off the seat he was sitting on while the nurse took care of his wound. When he stopped in front of the officer, the officer grabbed him and forced him around roughly so he could put handcuffs back over his wrists again.

Paul couldn't believe the events that happened that night. Getting in jail because of Ash, really? And getting stabbed by him? Paul was furious, but he kept a straight face as the police officer now began to guide him to his jail cell.

He planned to call Reggie, so he could bail him out, but he was also worried about that one guy's car he had damaged during the fight with Ash. Usually when damaging someone else's property, that person who got their property damaged could press charges and Paul was worried if that person might press charges against him.

As Paul watched the bars open, he walked into his cell after getting his handcuffs off and turned around briefly to face the officer in front of him. The officer gave him a smirk and Paul wanted to rip that smirk right off that man's face, but he kept himself in control and just gave him a glare while the man slowly closed his cell bars.

Shaking his head, Paul turned around and walked toward the phone that was hanging on the wall. He needed to call Reggie, he wasn't planning on spending the night there at all.

As he placed the phone up to his ear, he waited for his brother to answer the phone and he was hoping he would.

A few moments passed by and Paul was beginning to think that Reggie just wasn't going to answer, but he was soon proven wrong when he heard him pick up his phone.

"Hello?" He asked, sounding confused.

Paul wasn't surprised to hear that Reggie sounded confused, especially since he was calling him from a prison.

"Hey, I'm in jail. Fucking Ash picked a fight with me on the street and I need you to bail me out."

"Really Paul? Jail?" Reggie asked.

Paul stared hard at the grey wall in front of him, not in the mood to hear Reggie getting mad at him for ending up in jail. He just wanted to get home and get the night over with already. "Look, I'm already pissed off as it is, so can you please come over here and bail me out? I'm really not trying to stay here over night."

He listened as Reggie sighed from the other end. "Fine, but where's the jail at?"

"Riker's Island," Paul mumbled.

Reggie took a moment to think and Paul stared hard at the wall in front of him, waiting for Reggie to answer.

"Alright, I'll be there in the bit."

"Alright," Paul placed the phone back onto its holder and turned his head towards the bars again.

He still couldn't believe he was in jail, all because of a freaking street fight. If it wasn't for Ash, then maybe he wouldn't be here tonight and he would be home in his bed, sleeping. He was already stressed out about Dawn and now Ash wanted to add more stress on top of it, so Paul was pretty ticked off.

"Yeah, can you please pick me up mom?"

Paul raised his eyebrow, instantly recognizing that voice as Ash's.

"I know… I know… I just… I was mad and—mom I know."

Paul felt his fists ball up as he walked towards the bars, waiting for Ash to hang up on the phone with his mother. It was that asshole's fault he's in jail in the first place.

"Okay… alright… See you mom."

When he heard the basketball player get silent again, Paul immediately assumed Ash placed the phone back onto the holder, so he opened his mouth to speak. "If it wasn't for your bitch ass, I wouldn't be in here." Paul growled.

Paul could tell Ash was taken aback and it got quiet for a few seconds, but then he heard Ash respond. "Okay, first off, I didn't think it would come down to this and second, you were being a dick, especially to Dawn, so I felt like you needed to be taught a lesson."

"Well that's fucking pathetic because look where you got us at? You got us in fucking prison, plus you fucking _stabbed _me." Paul spat.

"For the last time, it was an accident!"

"Stabbing someone isn't no fucking accident!" Paul growled. "I fucking hate your guts for putting me in this shit."

"Well you were treating Dawn like complete shit and plus you slept with Giselle—"

"Okay, for one, what happens between me and Dawn is none of your fucking business, and two, who really gives a fuck if I slept with Giselle? The hoe doesn't even give a shit about anybody but herself."

"She's not a hoe." Ash growled.

Paul rolled his eyes. "You are so fucking stupid if you really think she isn't. But if that's the main reason why you decided to try and fight me, then you're really fucking pathetic." Paul shook his head, "Fighting me for a chick who doesn't give a shit about you."

Paul gripped onto the bars in front of him, becoming even more upset.

"She isn't just any chick. She's just misunderstood." Ash argued back.

Paul honestly could care less about Ash and his romance drama. "Whatever. That still doesn't change the fact that your dumbass decided to fight me in a public area."

It got quiet for a moment and Paul was beginning to wonder if Ash finally had nothing to say, but then he heard Ash speak again, but this time in more calm tone. "Fine. I was wrong for fighting you in a public area, but I'm not going to say sorry for fighting you. You broke Dawn's heart completely and I wasn't having that, plus it does bother me that you had sex with Giselle more than once without knowing who she really is. I don't expect you to understand, but you deserved that fight tonight and if you think otherwise, then there's something wrong with you."

"For the last time, what happens between me and Dawn is none of your fucking busine—"

"You know what your problem is Paul? The only reason why you and her have problems all the time is because you don't trust her at all. You keep thinking I'm going to take her away from you and I'm not. She's my best friend, so I'm always going to be in her life whether you like it or not Paul, we've been best friends for years, _way_ before you came into the picture. So you got one hell of a lot of nerve breaking Dawn's heart because she's always been loyal to you. If you can't even trust her, then you don't deserve to be with her. She deserves to be with someone who trusts her."

Paul was becoming slowly upset at that last comment and he was about to speak, but Ash cut him off again.

"I know you well enough to know that you're gonna curse me out, so save it. Just think about what I just said and think it out in your head. You really need to see what you're doing with your relationship because if you keep being like that, you're going to lose her for good. It's not going to be her fault or my fault, it's going to be _your _fault. You're insecure because you think you're not good enough for her, you're insecure because you think that she isn't loyal to you, and you're insecure because you think that she doesn't love you. That's the problem here, your insecurities."

Paul blinked as he listened to those words, not sure of what to say now.

"You need to do something quick with those insecurities, because if not you're going to lose her."

Paul stared hard at the bars in deep thought, actually listening to Ash's words this time. He was beginning to realize that everything Ash was saying was true. Usually, he doesn't bother listening to whatever Ash had to say, but for some reason Paul was beginning to think that maybe Ash is right, that maybe it really is his insecurities.

Paul frowned slightly to himself and let his eyes wander off toward the floor. That anger that was in him a moment ago slowly faded into a calm one, but now he was beginning to feel really shitty, especially with the way he had been treating Dawn.

"_Why don't you trust me?" She argued._

"_Because you don't trust me." He answered, now getting up on his feet. "All your attention always fucking goes to Ash."_

_Dawn made a face. "What!?" She started to become more furious. "Are you serious!? You think I have feelings for Ash?"_

_Paul chuckled lightly, "Well there's no need to make up some kind of pathetic excuse as to why you don't."_

"_I don't!" She argued, but Paul still believed otherwise. "I love you Paul, why don't you get that?"_

"_Because you said you don't trust me!" He shouted, his fist clenching at his side. "If you love me like you say you do, you would trust me, but you don't. Sorry if it seemed like I used your precious little game for answers, but now I know exactly where we stand. We're through," Paul brushed past her and stormed his way toward where he had entered the tent in the first place._

_..._

"_Seriously? You still think I have feelings for him? Come on now, I'm dating you! Not him! I've been with you for a long time! I'm crazy in love with you! I've fucking slept with you!"_

"_That doesn't prove shit." He snapped. "You wish it were him, instead of me. It's always been Ash and you know it. He's always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things. He's the one that you wish you were with, not me."_

"_I don't care if you're not like him! I don't want you to be like him!" She argued back. "I love you just the way you are, Paul. Stop worrying about Ash because honestly this is really ridiculous! Your jealousy on him really needs to stop now—"_

"_I am not jealous." Paul pointed out. _

"_Yes, you are." _

"_Whatever," he groaned. _

"_I'm calling him back," _

"_What, so he can calm you down and make you happy?"_

"_You know what. If you're not going to trust me, that's okay." _

"_Where are you going?" Paul demanded._

"_Home," she said angrily as she continued to gather her things together._

_He knew she was going to leave and there was nothing he can do to stop her, especially after upsetting her with this. But he couldn't help himself, Ash just keeps getting in the way._

_She began to head for the door, but she turned to look at him first. Paul looked at her and froze when he saw tears falling from her eyes. "When are you ever going to trust me?" She whispered. Paul was going to answer that, but she soon walked out of his room._

…

"_I think… we need to take a break," she whispered. "Just for a little while…" _

_Paul furrowed his eyebrows together at that comment, not understanding what she was trying to do. "You're breaking up with me?" _

_Dawn looked down at her feet and then looked up at him, frowning. "I love you, Paul. But I feel like you need to trust me and I think that if we have some time apart from each other, it will give us enough time to fall back together."_

_Paul shook his head, not liking this at all. "No," he said lowly. "After everything we've been through? I can't handle that. I am not letting Ash ruin this for us—"_

"_Stop it," Dawn hissed, becoming irritated now. "This has nothing to do with him," she argued. "This is between us, so stop making it about him."_

_Paul got quiet now, listening to her._

"_I know you're afraid of losing me, Paul." She whispered, causing him to look into her eyes now. "But I need space."_

_Paul kept his eyes on her and saw her walking up to him as she placed a kiss upon his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered, now walking away. _

…

"_How dare you accuse me of having feelings for Ash when you're over here having sex with Giselle!?" She screamed, her voice nearly echoing throughout the hall. _

"_And that's a problem, because…?" _

"_It's a problem because I'm your girlfriend!" She shrieked._

_Paul laughed at that statement. "Girlfriend?" he laughed again. "We're on a break, remember?"_

"_That doesn't mean you can go around doing whatever you want." She said lowly, her lips now trembling._

"_Actually, it does. You broke up with me, so don't act like you own me."_

"_How could you do this to me?" she whispered._

"_I'm not hurting you," Paul laughed, a bit confused about her behavior. "I'm just having fun. Giselle seems like the kind of girl that I need anyway. She likes to fuck a lot, just like I do." He paused for a moment and then spoke again. "I like fucking her." Paul smiled. "She's way better in bed than you are."_

"_Fuck you," she said bitterly as tears now began to form in her eyes._

_Paul wasn't fazed by her tears. "You already did." He smirked slightly. "More than once."_

"_Got nothing to say huh?" Paul laughed darkly._

_He watched as tears slowly fell from her cheeks, her heart shattering right in front of him. _

"_And you lost your virginity to me?" He moved his face down to her level. "You're pathetic," _

"_You are such a bastard!"_

"_At least I'm not a whore like you." Paul stared at her with dark eyes. "Did you like it when I hit it from the back?" He waited for her to answer, but she stared at him in shock. "How about when you sucked my dick, did you like that?"_

_Without thinking, she did the first thing that came across her mind. She smacked him across the face, hearing that burning sensation lingering in the air. Tears fell from her eyes like a waterfall and she felt like her heart was being ripped right out of her chest. _

"_Go to hell!" She screamed, making it sound like more of a demand._

_Paul slowly turned his face to look at her. She could see that huge red mark forming on the side of his face, but she didn't care. _

"_I never want to see your face again." She whispered. "I hope you die,"_

Paul stared at the floor for a long moment and then finally decided to speak after thinking for a long time and remembering everything that had happened with him and Dawn. "… What if I already lost her?" he asked lowly, not expecting for Ash to respond anyway. "I fucked up badly. I called her things I shouldn't have… I think she's never gonna forgive me." It was weird to him to finally open up to Ash, of all people, in a way, but Ash somehow got through to him in a surprising way.

"Well, one thing I do know is that Dawn really does love you, but you really broke her heart Paul. I honestly have no idea if she would forgive you. But knowing her, she most likely would because she loves you."

"Then what should I do?" Paul wondered, his mind focused on just Dawn and his actions.

"I can't exactly tell you what to do, but what I'm going to tell you is that you have to work really hard to win her back. She isn't going to forgive you from one day to the next."

"I don't expect her to," Paul frowned and then took a seat on his little bed that was made inside of the jail cell.

"If you do end up winning her back, you really need to let go of your insecurities because if you don't, you're going to drive her away for good."

Paul nodded his head simply, not expecting Ash to see him, but he still nodded his head anyway, though Ash was in the cell beside his.

"Alright," Paul sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey Paul, I'm sorry for stabbing you. I really didn't mean to, I'm not even lying about that."

Paul licked his lips and looked at his stitched up wound. "It's whatever, I got it stitched anyway."

"Boys, you have a visitor." One of the officers said.

Paul narrowed his eyes and looked past the bars that was blocking him from leaving his cell. He slowly got up from his bed and walked over to the bars, curious about who was the visitor.

The officer and a man beside him with a beard and dark brown hair stood before his cell. The officer looked at Paul and then narrowed his eyes at Ash who was in the cell beside Paul's.

"Hey boys." The man said.

Paul raised his eyebrow at the man, wondering who the hell he was because he didn't recognize the guy at all.

"I'm David Harrison. You guys are probably wondering who I am, so I'll just tell you. You know that car you guys damaged? Yeah, that was my car."

Paul's face fell flat at that comment and he was pretty sure Ash's face fell flat as well. "Shit," Paul said from under his breath. He grabbed onto the bars that was blocking him and looked at the man again. "Are you gonna press charges against us? Look, I'm sorry man, but—"

"No sweat," David said, catching Paul off guard. Paul raised his eyebrow. "I can tell that you guys are just teenagers in high school. Seniors maybe, I don't know." The guy shrugged. "I was pretty pissed off when I saw how my car looked, but then I realized that the transportation around this place is pretty hard anyway. Most people who live out here walk, use trains and buses to get places, so a car isn't really needed, especially while living in the city." David looked at Ash and then looked at Paul. "So I'll tell you what. I'll let you guys off the hook since I can tell you guys obviously don't got the kind of money that I need for my car."

"What are you trying to say, that we're broke?" Paul spoke up, becoming offended with that last comment.

"No, but if you're saying that you got the money then I guess I should make you guys press charges—"

"No," Ash spoke up. David slowly turned his head to Ash who was standing inside the cell beside Paul. David raised his eyebrow. "Paul, can you shut up please?" Ash sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. "Look, we're sorry for damaging your car, but we really don't have the money for it right now. I need to get out of jail and so does he. And to confirm your thoughts right, we are seniors and we're close to graduating, so I rather be let off the hook."

The man nodded his head. "Okay, then we have a deal. But can I ask why were you guys fighting in a public area in the first place? I'm pretty sure you guys knew it was a high chance of ending up here."

Paul rolled his eyes and turned around, now beginning to pace around in his cell.

"High school drama, nothing serious." Ash commented.

David raised his eyebrow at Ash and then looked at Paul again.

Paul continued to pace around, deciding to say nothing more.

"Alright," David turned his head to the officer. "I'm done here, officer. I don't need to press charges."

Paul let out a soft sigh of relief as he listened to the man and the officer walk away.

It got quiet again for a few moments and Paul took another seat on the bed again. He ran a hand through his hair this time and began to think again.

"Hey, Paul?" He heard Ash speak from the other cell.

"What?" Paul mumbled, staring hard at the floor.

"Are we cool now?"

Paul sat there quietly, not sure if he actually wanted to be on good terms with Ash. He always got annoyed just being around him and even listening to him. He just never liked Ash to begin with.

But Paul was beginning to realize what Ash was saying. Maybe Dawn really doesn't look at Ash as anything more than a friend, maybe she just looks at him like a brother she never had. Maybe it was true, maybe Paul is insecure about himself. Maybe he's scared that he isn't perfect for her.

"Yeah," he said finally. "We're cool."

* * *

Just a week ago he was dealing with jail and stuff, but luckily Reggie got to bail him out. Ash got bailed out by his mother and Paul was sure that his mother went off on him. Reggie sure went off on Paul when he got bailed out, but Paul was happy to finally put the fight behind him. He had more things to worry about, like fixing things with Dawn.

It was only one week till Prom, and Paul only had one week left to mend things with Dawn.

He was standing across the street from their high school, staring at it and waiting for her to come. When he saw her approach the school, he immediately took a moment to smoke his cigarette one last time before dropping it to the ground and stepping on it, putting out the fire.

He shoved his hands in his leather jacket pockets and began walking across the street after waiting for the don't walk sign to change to the walk sign. Paul quickly made it across the street and watched as she was heading for the stairs that led to the entrance of the school.

Paul quickly got behind her and brought a blue rose over her head, stopping her in her tracks.

Earlier, he had asked Drew for advice and usually Drew liked to woo girls over with roses, so he gave Paul a blue rose just for her.

Dawn furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion when she saw the rose and turned around briefly when she saw Paul. Her mood completely changed as soon as she saw him.

"Hey," he breathed, not sure of what else to say, especially after ruining things with her.

She let out an angry breath and continued to walk, trying to avoid him. Paul rushed to her side and put his arm around her. By doing that, she flinched and quickly got out of his grip. "_Don't touch me."_ She snapped in a very angry tone.

Paul stared at her, seeing how angry she looked. He frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, I just—"

"What, you think that you can just give me a freaking rose and everything goes back to normal?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

"No, but—"

"Fuck you, Paul." She spat through clenched teeth.

Paul opened his mouth at that comment, watching as she turned around again.

He licked his lips, listening as someone behind him ran past him and tapped Dawn on the shoulder, saying "Hey," before running up to the steps.

"May!" Dawn called out. Paul instantly realized it was May and May whipped her head around, taking a step down as Dawn walked towards her.

"When are we going to look for Prom dresses?" She wondered.

Paul raised his eyebrow at that comment. He smiled lightly as he heard that she mentioned Prom dresses. _So she is going to Prom, _he thought.

"I was thinking Wednesday 'cause I'm not busy that day. Is that good for you?" May had books in her hands, holding them against her chest.

"That sounds great." Dawn smiled.

Paul cleared his throat and Dawn kept her eyes on May, now slowly looking down at the floor.

May looked over at Paul, though his eyes was on Dawn. "Are you still going to Prom with me?" he asked.

Dawn laughed at that comment. _Is he seriously asking me this?_ She shook her head and turned around slightly, eyeing him with a serious look. "Are you kidding me?"

May raised her eyebrow, wondering what was going on between them.

"I'm not your girlfriend anymore." She said in all seriousness. "So _no_, I'm_ not_ going with you."

Paul stared at her, feeling those words hitting him as he tried to remain calm.

"How about Giselle?" Dawn forced a smile. "She could be your date. Why don't you ask her?" That smile she had on her face soon dropped into a firm line and she turned around briefly, now walking up the steps. "Come on, May."

May looked at Dawn and then looked at Paul again. She wondered what was going on between the two, but she shook her head and walked with Dawn.

Paul watched as the two girls entered the school and he frowned.

Angrily, he dropped the rose to the floor and walked off.

* * *

Giselle chewed on her bottom lip nervously, watching Ash playing basketball with his friends.

She spent her whole weekend thinking about everything he had said to her. He was most definitely right about everything—she wanted to change into a good person, she didn't want to continue living her life like this. Every day she was always treated like a thing and not a person and she was getting sick and tired of it. Even her own mother has problems with her just because she let Silas ruin her life.

She frowned again, realizing that Ash was right. It wasn't Silas fault that she continued to let herself go. It was all her. _She _let this happen to her, not Silas.

Giselle continued to watch Ash playing with his friends.

They played basketball for a little while longer before heading into the boy's locker room. Giselle walked out of the gym and toward the boy's locker room. She knew she wasn't allowed in there, but she really needed to talk to Ash.

Regaining her composure, she pushed the boy's locker room door open and walked inside. She gained shocked looks from guys who were shirtless and changing, but she avoided the team members, specifically looking for a raven haired basketball player.

Ash pulled his shirt off and placed it on the bench, now getting his clothes that he was going to change into.

The locker room began to quiet down a bit and Ash began to wonder why it all of a sudden got quiet. He looked up and saw Brock pointing behind him.

Ash turned around briefly only to see Giselle standing before him.

She stared at him for a while with a serious look on her face, ignoring the other eyes that was on her. She didn't care that the other team members were in her business, but she really needed to talk to him.

"You were right about everything." She started. "It's not Silas. It's me…"

Ash stared at her and Giselle let her eyes wonder off to his chest, not really focusing on his shirtless figure, though she did notice that he had bruises around his chest and a scar at the top of his head along with his lip. "You do deserve someone a lot better than I am." Giselle slowly looked back at his eyes. "I just… I apologize for leading you on and doing all these shitty things to you… to be honest, I'm just a fucked up person and I really can't blame no one else except for me." She forced a smile and folded her arms beneath her chest. "Um, you don't have to forgive me if you don't want to… I just… I really appreciate all that you've done for me and I'm sorry that I wasn't grateful."

Ash listened carefully, raising his eyebrow slightly at her.

Giselle let out a shaky breath and dropped her arms to her side. "I guess I'll go now…" She pursed her lips and slowly turned around.

"Wait," Ash called and Giselle smiled lightly, turning back around to face him.

Gary watched the two at his locker and he felt his fist clench. "Let her leave, Ash." He demanded.

"Shut up, Gary." Ash mumbled, his eyes on Giselle still.

Giselle stared at him as she waited for him to speak.

"Are you going to stop fooling around with guys?"

She nodded her head, frowning slightly. "I'll try…"

Ash raised his eyebrow again and she frowned again. "Okay, yes, I am…"

"I forgive you, but I don't think I can trust you."

"I don't blame you…" she trailed off.

"You did a lot of selfish things that I can't really let go of," he continued.

"I see…" She bit down on her bottom lip and frowned again. "I just… I still want you in my life as a friend. I mean… you're the only person that cares about me…"

He stared at her for a bit as silence now formed between them.

She looked up at his eyes again.

"I'll think about it." He decided, now seeing a hopeful look in her eyes. He let out a soft sigh. "You should get out of here before you get caught,"

"Yeah," She nodded, smiling at him.

Ash watched as she now turned around and headed out of the boy's locker room.

When she left, Gary looked over at Ash again, still upset. "I thought you was through with her?"

"I am," Ash shot back, locking his eyes on Gary. "Just because I forgave her, doesn't mean I want to date her."

"Yeah, but you still have feelings for her." Gary shot back.

"Yeah, but she's not Misty." Ash pointed out. "And anyway. I want to be single. I'm tired of letting girls stop me from doing what I need to do." Ash turned to the bench again and pulled his shirt on.

"I thought you was over Misty,"

"Yeah, I thought so too." Ash looked over at Gary again. "But it's whatever," he placed his stuff inside his duffle bag and put the strap over his shoulder.

He turned away and started heading out of the locker room.

* * *

It had been at least 30 minutes in class and Paul kept looking over at Dawn and May. They were talking to each other and he couldn't help but notice May continuing to look at him every few seconds. He wondered if they were talking about him because she kept looking at him. Paul wouldn't be surprised if they were because May does happen to be Dawn's best friend as well as Ash.

May took a moment to look at Paul again and Paul this time kept his eyes on May and then slowly looked over Dawn.

May licked her lips and looked over at Dawn again. "Hey, what's going on with you and Paul?" she wondered, a bit curious after witnessing the obvious tension that was going on between the two earlier that day.

The Blue Diamond turned her head to look over at Paul, seeing that he was looking at her. She stared at him for a little while longer before turning her head back to May, sighing lightly. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay," May whispered, looking over at Paul.

She saw as he made eye contact with her and then he looked down at his notebook.

* * *

Night time quickly settled over the city, the moon shinning bright and the stars noticeable in the sky.

Ash looked over at Giselle again. He was in position and ready to play basketball with her.

Ever since she came into the locker room, he hit her up later that day asking if she can meet him at his place and play basketball in the backyard. Knowing her, he knew she didn't like basketball much, but he didn't care.

He spent at least a good few hours debating what he wanted. She wanted a second chance, so he felt that this was a good time to see if she wasn't playing games.

"You know I suck at basketball…" She wined, getting into position as well.

Ash smirked, looking up at her. "I'm sure you're not that bad."

Giselle sighed as she pulled strands of hair behind her ears. In a second, Ash began running past her in a quick pace and she whipped around, trying to steal the ball from him.

Ash kept his arm out, blocking her from getting the ball and dribbling it with one hand as he headed for the basket. He kept getting closer and closer to the basket and threw it into the net, causing her to sigh in exhaustion.

Before he can even catch the ball, she caught it after it fell inside the net and she began running the opposite direction from him, dribbling the ball with one hand like he did.

Ash hardened his eyes on her as he quickly stole the ball from her, catching her off guard.

"Hey!"

Ash smirked, now bouncing the ball back and forth in between his legs. "Come on, Giselle. Show me what you got,"

She let out a huff and watched him. She didn't know much about basketball, let alone knew how to play it. "You're a very experienced basketball player. Obviously you're going to win."

"I'll go easy on you," he smirked, still bouncing the ball back and forth between his legs, doing a killer crossover.

Giselle sighed as she kneeled to his level, her eyes on the ball. Ash smirked again and he spun around her, now throwing the ball high above his head and throwing it into the net.

Giselle gasped in shock again. "You call _that _easy!?"

Ash laughed, catching the ball. "Yup," he smiled.

"Ash, I can't do this." She wined and Ash laughed again, now walking up to her, he handed her the ball.

"Shoot the ball then," he suggested. "I can tell if you're a good player or not if you make it into the net."

Giselle scoffed, holding the ball in her hands. "I suck at that,"

"Yeah right," Ash scoffed, believing otherwise, now walking close to the basket. He was close enough for her to be able to reach the net. "Shoot it at this spot," he suggested.

She slowly walked over to his side and looked at the net. It shouldn't be so hard to shoot it. It was close enough for her. "Fine," she sighed, lifting the ball over her head.

Ash was about to say that she'll make it until he saw her shoot.

"Wow," he stated in a monotone voice as he watched the ball sail over the rim.

Giselle frowned in embarrassment. She sucked terribly.

Ash began laughing uncontrollably. "Yeah, basketball is _definitely _not for you."

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, walking to go get the ball.

Ash laughed as he walked up to her. The ball landed by the pole. She turned around briefly and Ash instantly took the ball from her hands as her back landed against the pole.

His hand was a bit too close to hers at the moment and she found a nervous chill running down her spine. Ash held the basketball at his side. Giselle took a moment to look at his lips and then at his eyes. When she began leaning in, Ash looked down, avoiding this moment to happen.

She had her mouth open and she closed it awkwardly, pulling another strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned her back against the pole.

Ash took a step back, careful not to be so close to her.

A moment of silence formed between them. "So why'd you quit cheerleading?" he wondered, now looking at her.

She kept her eyes on him for a little while longer, noticing that he was shaking off what she had just did. "I was… I wasn't focused at the time since all the stuff went down…" she trailed off.

Ash nodded his head, "Oh," his eyes started looking at the floor.

Another silence formed between them and Giselle frowned, wondering if he even liked her the way he used to.

She must have really screwed things up since he didn't even acknowledge the fact that she tried to kiss him.

"So how come you have a scar across your head, your lip and bruises on your chest?" She wondered.

He shrugged. "Got into a fight with Paul."

"Oh…" She looked down, wondering if he knew about her actions with him. "How come?"

"I didn't like the fact that he was sleeping with you like you were some toy for his own pleasure, and I was pissed that he broke Dawn's heart."

She blinked, not sure how to react to that. She frowned. "I'm sorry… I was… I don't know…"

"It's fine," He mumbled.

She stared at him for a short moment. "You really care about me that much?"

Ash nodded his head and looked at her again, letting out a sigh. "You really get on my nerves, Giselle."

Giselle smiled softly at that comment and he stared at her for a brief moment before leaning in and pressing his lips onto hers. She gasped against his lips and then slowly returned the kiss, her back pressed onto the pole behind her. They kissed passionately for a few more seconds and then he pulled away, still holding his basketball at his side.

Ash brought his head up to look at her again, his mind on something. "Are you going to Prom?"

She raised her eyebrow, a bit surprised with that question. "Um… No, I don't really do Prom…"

Ash chuckled lightly at that comment. "Yes you do. Every girl loves Prom."

"Yeah, well… not me." Giselle admitted, now avoiding eye contact with him.

"Why?" he asked, curious.

She shrugged. "It's just… really not my thing."

Ash scoffed, believing otherwise. "There must be some reason why you don't like Prom."

She sighed again, looking at him. "I don't have any friends, Ash." Ash could hear the pain in her voice as she said this. "And also, nobody wants to go with me…" She felt tears beginning to form in her eyes, but she instantly blinked them back. Giselle didn't want him to see her that way again. "So, how am I supposed to have a good time at Prom if I don't have none of those things?"

Ash kept his eyes on her, listening to those words.

It was silent for a brief moment and Giselle looked down again.

"Then I'll take you," he suggested.

Giselle slowly looked up at him, a bit surprised with that comment. "What?"

"I'll take you," he decided.

"But I… I broke your heart. I was a bitch to you." She frowned.

He shrugged. "Yeah, but… every girl deserves to go to their Senior Prom."

Giselle was flattered. "I… I'm sure you would like to go with someone else, especially with all I've done—"

"I'm fine, Giselle. There's no other girl out here that I want to go with." A thought of Misty soon passed through his head again, but he wasn't going to bring her up. "Besides, we can just go as friends since I know you don't want a relationship."

A small smile formed on her face as he said that. "Just as friends?"

Ash nodded. "Just as friends." He confirmed.

"Not even with benefits?" She raised her eyebrow.

He gave her a blank look and she laughed. "Fine, we can go just as friends."

* * *

Paul slammed the money down onto the counter, his eyes hard on the blonde in front of him.

The blonde was named Trip and he had been Paul and Reggie's drug dealer for a long time now.

"Your brother paid me the other day," Trip told him, wondering what the money was for.

"It's not for drugs." He pointed out.

"Then what's it for?" He raised his eyebrow at him.

Paul hardened his eyes on the blonde for a moment longer before speaking, "I need a gun."

* * *

**A/N: So I bet all of you are confused about why Paul suddenly wants a gun. Hmm. You guys will find out next chapter!**

**But anyway, I want to know everyone's thoughts on this chapter, so review por favor! :D**


	22. Charcoal Grey

**A/N: There's officially two chapters left for this story! It's close to coming to an end guys… but not just yet, more happens within this chapter and the last two, just saying, so I hope you guys fasten your seat belts and enjoy the last parts of this story. (:**

_**Charcoal Grey**_** symbolizes depression and scattered thoughts.**

* * *

It was just three days before Prom and Dawn still hasn't found a dress.

May sighed as she searched for a dress. She wanted something nice and pretty, but not something so wild since she wasn't a senior, she was a junior just like Dawn.

Dawn was looking at the dresses, but her mind was elsewhere as May continued to look for dresses.

Dawn had been more focused on Paul lately. It was only three days till Prom and her and Paul still hasn't made up. What he did hurt her completely and she wasn't sure if she wanted to forgive him. What he said to her, what he did to her, it all just hurt her really, really bad and she wasn't sure if he even deserved to be forgiven, especially after all the damage he's done.

"How do you like this one?" May picked up a dress and straightened it out to show Dawn.

Dawn just stared at it, her mind going back to Paul. May waited for her friend to say something, but when she noticed she was a bit spaced out, she sighed. "Dawn?" she called out.

Dawn blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "What?"

May sighed and held the dress in her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she lied, turning to look at the dresses. She tried her best to focus on finding a dress, but her mind kept going back to Paul and she hated it.

"What's wrong, Dawn?" May frowned, knowing her best friend rather well.

Dawn sighed, keeping her eyes on the dresses in front of her. "Paul and I broke up."

"I've noticed." May pointed out, remembering the other day.

"Well… I sort of broke up with him because I needed space and all… He doesn't really trust me, you know? So I called it off, just for a bit. But then… he started acting weird and started being an asshole. He started having sex with that Giselle girl and it just really hurt me because he always accused my loyalty and look what he's doing. He's busy having sex with another girl." She pointed out. She could feel tears forming in her eyes again but she blinked them back. Dawn was so tired of crying over him. She was sure that her eyes looked swollen for days.

"So that explains why you told him to ask her to Prom." May frowned, hugging her best friend.

Dawn acknowledged the hug and pulled back. "I really want to go to Prom with him though…'

May furrowed her eyebrows together, not liking the sound of that. "After what he did to you? Hell no. You can go with me, Dawn, forget Paul."

"But you're going with Drew." She pointed out.

May shook her head. "Drew isn't a senior, so he can go with his friends. Obviously you need a friend Dawn and I don't mind taking you."

Dawn smiled lightly at that comment.

"Besides, Paul doesn't deserve to go with you, especially after what he did."

"Thanks May,"

* * *

Giselle smiled as she walked into the bar, taking a seat in her usual stool as she waited for one of the bartenders to take her order.

Lately, she has been finally relaxing herself. She had her hair pulled into a pony tail and this time she was dressed more appropriately. She had on a white t-shirt with black shorts on and black and white converse. Ever since Ash came into her life, she found herself falling back to her old self and she really liked it.

One of the bartenders, Aaron, stopped in front of her, a bit surprised with how she looked that night. "Damn, you look different," he pointed out.

She blushed lightly. "Yeah, I've decided to dress how I used to," she smiled.

"Well, you look good." He smiled, eyeing her. She used to make out with Aaron every time he got her a drink, but this time things were going to change.

"So what drink do you want babe?" He questioned.

She smirked lightly at that comment. "The same as always," she told him.

Aaron smirked back at her and went to get her a drink.

Giselle watched as he fixed her a drink and suddenly she felt a presence beside her, taking a seat next to her. Before she even looked at who was beside her, Aaron stopped in front of her and handed her her drink.

She took the glass in hand and began to twirl the straw around her drink.

"So, are you going to give me a reward like you always do?" He smiled, watching as she twirled her straw around her drink.

Giselle chuckled lightly at that comment, looking down at her drink. "Those days are over, Aaron." She pointed out, looking at him.

He raised his eyebrows, a bit shocked. "Really?"

She nodded briefly. "It was fun while it lasted, but… you should go back to bartending. Wouldn't want to jeopardize your job."

The person beside her scoffed at that comment. "Let me get a shot of henny."

That voice…

Giselle felt her eyebrows furrow together. That voice. That voice sounded way too familiar for her liking.

It almost sounded like…

She slowly turned her head to the person beside her and she nearly felt her heart drop at the sight of who it was.

_Silas._

He handed his money over to the bartender and Aaron took it.

Her heart began to beat fast when she saw him right beside her. It had been such a long time since she last seen him and she had no idea that she would ever see his face again.

Aaron left to go fix him a drink and Silas smirked, feeling her eyes on him. "It's nice to see you again," he smirked, now turning his head to look at her.

His blue eyes burned into hers and she felt a chill run down her spine. He still looked the same, with his long navy blue hair and piercing blue eyes.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?" she whispered sharply.

Silas smiled at her charmingly, that smile he always did when they used to be together. "I just came for a drink," he told her calmly, now taking a moment to check her out.

Her eyes hardened on him when she noticed he had been looking at her up and down. He didn't deserve to have the pleasure of checking her out, especially with what he had done to her.

"You still look good," he mumbled, looking at her in the eyes again. He flashed her another smile. "You look even better than before."

"Fuck you," she said angrily.

Silas' attention turned to the bartender. Aaron handed Silas his drink. Silas nodded at the bartender and turned to look at Giselle again, laughing at the fact that she was still mad at him.

"You're still mad at me?" he laughed, bringing his glass up to his lips.

"Mad?" Giselle laughed. "I fucking _hate _you."

"No you don't," he told her, taking a large sip of his henny before placing the glass back down on the counter. "You used to love me, remember?"

"You're so full of shit," she shook her head, the bad memories of him coming back to her.

"Come on, I thought you'd be over it."

"Over it? I'm not fucking over it. You ruined my fucking life Silas. You made everyone turn against me." She raised her voice.

"You brought that on yourself when you took those pictures," he pointed out, bringing the drink back up to his lips.

Angrily, Giselle slapped the drink out of his hands, watching as the glass tipped over the counter and fell to the floor. She listened as the glass shattered.

"You fucking bitch, I paid for that!" he yelled, now getting upset.

"I don't give a fuck," she snapped.

Silas shook his head, forcing a laugh out of him. "It's funny how you're pissed at me when you're the one who decided to even take those pictures,"

"Yeah because your punk ass was so fucking horny for pictures!"

"I didn't force you to take them," he laughed, a bit amused with her reaction.

"Yes you did!"

"No, I didn't. That was all you. You're the one who decided to take those pictures. You're the one who decided to send them to me. It's not my fault that you decided to take them and send them to me of all people." He laughed, causing her to get even more upset. "You should learn how to stop putting trust into people then maybe shit like that wouldn't have happened to you."

Giselle didn't think. She grabbed her full drink and tossed the alcohol that was inside her drink and splashed it all over his face. She listened as Silas now got even ten times more upset, but before he could even do anything about it, she grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed his face into the counter.

She gained attention from a few people, but she didn't care. Finally, she brought the empty glass over his head and slammed it down, watching as it shattered on the back of his head, leaving him there unconscious.

Giselle didn't care about the attention she had gained. "FUCK YOU!" She screamed in venom.

Shaking her head, she left out of the bar in anger, not caring about the damage she had done to Silas. His ass deserved it.

* * *

He didn't know why he asked for a gun, but he felt that he needed it.

Paul remembered Trip saying he wouldn't sell it to him just because he wasn't putting it on sale. Paul had no other choice but to come to Trip's small tobacco store while it wasn't open.

Paul _really _needed that gun and he was going to get it one way or another.

He pulled on his ski mask over his head, careful not to be recognized. He knew that if he broke inside the store without some type of disguise, that he would instantly be recognized by one of the stores cameras and he wasn't risking the chances of being caught.

Paul held a baseball bat tightly in his hands and slammed it into the glass door, causing the glass to shatter all over the floor. He took a moment to look around, making sure there was no person nearby.

He now walked inside the store, stepping on the glass pieces that was currently all over the front entrance.

He took his phone out and put on the flash, now shinning the light on everything.

Paul knew exactly where Trip hid the gun at, he always hid it in between the small bongs that was right by the cash register. The cash register was just on top of the glass counter which consisted of lots of bongs and a variety of weed bowls inside.

Carefully, he brought the baseball up to the glass and immediately slammed it against the glass, breaking it completely, listening as the glass pieces shattered and the bang of the cash register falling onto the glass bongs and bowls. His eyes instantly fell on a black pistol and he picked it up, bringing it up to his face as he examined it carefully.

The pistol looked brand new, so he assumed it must have been loaded. Paul took a moment to check if there was bullets inside and he soon noticed there was more than enough.

Paul breathed into his ski mask, now becoming slightly irritated about how hot he was feeling with it on. He shook his head and placed the gun inside his pocket.

He was about to leave and go, but his eyes fell on the cash register and a thought soon passed in his head.

Paul stared at the machine for a moment longer and shook his head. It took him a minute to pop it open and he grabbed all of the money that was inside, shoving it all inside his pockets. After taking the money and the gun, Paul ran outside and quickly found his way back inside his car.

* * *

As soon as Giselle got inside her house, she slammed the door close in anger, tears filling in her eyes once more.

"Giselle, que paso?"

She let out a shaky breath of air as she slowly looked straight at the living room. She wasn't in the mood to put up with her mother, especially after facing Silas that night.

Giselle slowly walked into the living room only to see her drunk mother sitting on the couch, staring at her in anger.

"Nada, mami." She mumbled. She knew her mother was upset at the fact that she even slammed the front door, but really she didn't care, she was just so mad at the moment.

"Why are you slamming doors then?" Her mother demanded in a drunken tone. "You think you can go around slamming doors whenever you want? This is _my _house."

"Ay, whatever mami." She rolled her eyes, now walking towards her room.

"Esperarte!" Her mother yelled, causing her to stop and turn her head towards her mom again. "I'm fucking talking to you."

Giselle stared at her mother for a moment longer and folded her arms beneath her chest. "I slammed the door because I was mad. So what,"

"So what? You think you can do shit like that just because you're upset?"

Giselle shrugged, rolling her eyes once more. "Es mi casa tambien." She pointed out, unfolding her arms from underneath her chest. "Estoy cansado mami. Yo realmente no quiero hablar. Buenas noches."

She brushed past her mother and began to head for her room again, but her mother soon got upset again.

"Puñeta coño!" her mother cursed, getting upset. "I said I'm fucking talking to you!"

"What is there to talk about?" She whipped her head at her mother again. "I'm sorry for freaking slamming your precious door, pero I need some sleep. And I do not have time to be dealing with you when you're drunk anyway." She rolled her eyes again and began to stomp her way to her room.

She listened as her mother kept cursing to her in Spanish, but Giselle could really care less. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to her or talk to anyone in that matter. She just wanted to be alone and to herself, especially after coming across Silas that night.

* * *

Paul stared at his phone, calling Dawn one last time.

He called her at least seventeen times that night and he was hoping that she would pick up, but she never did and he was beginning to grow upset every time it went straight to her voicemail.

Paul shook his head again and pressed end, placing his phone in his lap.

He was absolutely frustrated and angry because she was ignoring him and he was starting to believe that she was never going to forgive him for what he did and it was killing him on the inside because he wanted her to forgive him. He wanted her to give him another chance. He knew he fucked up badly, but really nobody's perfect in this world.

Paul placed his hands on the wheel and stared hard out the front window of his car. He pressed his foot on the gas and began driving.

Lots of thoughts came rushing at his head all at once.

What if she never forgives him? What if she goes for Ash? He honestly wouldn't blame her if she did, especially with what he had done.

Paul frowned again, remembering when she told him to die. How could she say such a horrible thing like that to him? He knew he could be very coldhearted and careless at times, but he's still human and is able to feel pain just like any other human being.

As Paul was driving, he felt tears falling from his eyes and this was a shock to him. He never once cried at all, but now he felt like his whole world was shattering right there and there was nothing to stop it.

She told him to _die. _She said it like she wished it would happen and that was enough to break his heart.

Paul looked over at the passenger seat and stared at the gun lying on the seat. He stared at it for just a moment and then looked back over to the front window, continuing to drive.

If she really wanted him to die that much, then she shall get her wish tonight.

* * *

Giselle took another moment to look at herself in the mirror, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear.

She was just filled with a lot of emotions that night. Memories of Silas kept coming to her and she found herself breaking at any moment, but she refused to let herself break again.

The simple fact of seeing him tonight really made her so angry and so hurt at the same time. He ruined everything for her and she felt ashamed for even loving someone like him. He never deserved her love, especially after everything he did.

She watched as a tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly whipped it off. She just needed some sleep and hopefully he'll be off her mind by tomorrow.

Giselle licked her lips slowly and turned off the light from the bathroom.

As she walked out of the bathroom and into her room, she immediately flinched at the sight in front of her, seeing that Paul was sitting on her bed and staring off in space.

"Jesus," she breathed out nervously. "You scared me,"

"Sorry," he mumbled, still staring straight and not looking at her.

After regaining her composure, she slowly walked over to him, a bit curious about why he was even here and inside her room in the first place. "What are you doing here?" she wondered.

"Just wanted to see you…" he trailed off.

She stared at him, noticing he looked a bit off in the face. "Are you okay?"

He chuckled lightly at that comment, "I like to believe that I am,"

Giselle slowly closed her mouth shut.

"Life is so fucked up, you know." He continued, still staring straight ahead.

"I… couldn't agree with you more," she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. She raised her eyebrow at him, a bit curious about why he looked so stressed, she assumed it must have been Dawn. "Look, everything is going to be okay with you and Dawn."

"How do you know that?" he asked lowly, slowly turning to look at her.

"Because she loves you."

Paul shook his head, "If she loves me, then why did she tell me to die?"

Giselle raised her eyebrows as if in shock. "She told you that?"

Paul tore his eyes off of her and stared at the floor.

She frowned slightly. "She doesn't mean it, you know."

A silence slowly fell between them and Giselle let out a soft sigh, not knowing what to say to him.

"We should do it again," he mumbled.

She furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "Do what?"

"Sex," he looked over at her as he said this. "Like what we have always been doing."

Her mouth fell open slightly at that comment. "… I don't think we should," she decided, looking down at her bed.

"Why not?" he asked her, a hint of attitude forming in his voice.

"Because it's wrong, Paul." She pointed out, looking at him again.

Paul chuckled at that comment. "You and I both have something and you know it."

"No, we don't." she denied, now taking a step back.

Paul quickly got up and walked up to her, she walked back every time he took a step closer to her. "Yes, we do." He told her. "You're lying to yourself if you really think that there's nothing going on between us."

"That's because there _is_ nothing going on between us—"

"If there isn't, then how do you explain this?" Paul placed his hands at each side of her face and leaned in, quickly smashing his lips onto hers.

Giselle was taken aback and she felt him try and deepen the kiss, but she pulled back, not wanting this at all. "Paul, stop." She hissed, looking up at him.

"Why? You've wanted this for the longest." He smashed his lips onto hers again, causing her to pull away again, now feeling a bit attacked by him. She knew something was obviously off about him, especially now that he was forcing himself on her.

She brought her hand up to his lips, pulling back and looking up at him again, a concerned look on her face. "That was before. But this is now." She told him, gasping for air.

Paul shook his head and tried to kiss her again and Giselle instantly pushed him back again. "Paul, I care about you, I do, but I got feelings for Ash." She told him, really concerned about him now. "You're not thinking straight because you're hurt about Dawn and I get it, but you don't love me."

Paul stared at her, an obvious emotional look on his face along with an angry emotion.

"You love Dawn. You always loved her." She pointed out. "I'm sorry, but I am not going to do this. Not again."

He stared at her as she said those words, taking a moment to let those words sink in. Giselle stared into his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but she had no idea.

Paul turned around and sat back down on her bed, looking straight forward at the wall again.

She let out a shaky breath of air and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at him.

Paul stared off at the wall in deep thought and he opened his mouth to speak. "Why did you offer to help me?"

Giselle blinked, a bit confused with his question. "What?"

"When you first met me… you wanted to help me with my relationship. Why did you offer to help?"

She stared at him for a brief moment and smiled lightly at that question. "Truth?"

He nodded.

"Well… I wanted a friend in my life." She admitted, causing him to look at her. "I didn't have anybody at the time. I was… all to myself. So when I noticed you were having problems with her, I used that as an advantage to make a friend out of you."

Paul raised his eyebrow, a bit amused. "You wanted me to be your friend?"

She nodded.

He laughed. "That's… really stupid," he laughed again, causing her to laugh as well.

"I know it sounds dumb, but I'm being honest, I really didn't have anybody." She laughed, smiling lightly. "Besides, if I never helped you, I would've never met Ash… I probably would've still been… a whore, you know." She frowned as she said those last words, now avoiding eye contact with Paul.

Paul stared at her, a bit curious about her. "What do you mean by you didn't have anybody?"

"I didn't have any friends," she pointed out.

"I get that, but… why?"

"You really don't know?"

Paul nodded his head and Giselle sighed.

"Well believe it or not, I was a good girl." She forced a smile. "I never dressed so wild and stuff like how I always do, I was always more simple, you know… well, I met someone, someone I thought I could trust, and I even fell in love with him, but he betrayed me." She slowly found herself reminiscing her past again, but she quickly tried her best to ignore it. "I sort of sent naked photos to him. Being the naïve girl that I was," she frowned again. "But I found out he had been cheating on me and you know, I got mad, but then he got mad and began to post those pictures online. Since those pictures been posted, I've been treated unfairly."

Paul stared at her as she continued, now understanding why she is the way she is.

"A lot of guys came onto me, girls harassed me from here and there. I got beat up plenty of times. But then there was this one day, I got tired of it and decided to dress all wild and stuff. I started acknowledging all these horny guys and doing whatever they liked." She took a moment to think about everything and she frowned again. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she blinked them back again. "I just thought 'why be in a relationship when all guys want is sex anyway?'" She shrugged, forcing out a laugh. "So I guess I started having sex with guys after that. And eventually I lost all of my friends." She looked back over at him and Paul sighed, a bit surprised to hear about that.

"I'm sorry that happened to you,"

"It's fine," She nodded, forcing a smile. "I'm kinda glad it did though,"

Paul raised his eyebrow, wondering why she was glad about something like that happening to her. "Why?"

"If my ex never did what he did, I never would've met Ash." She pointed out.

Paul stared at her, now understanding why she said that.

"It took me a while, but Ash really made me realize a lot." She continued, now smiling. "I'm starting to look like my old self again and I'm starting to feel like I'm a person, and not just some kind of toy."

"So Ash is really that special, huh?"

She noticed a sad look cross over his face and she frowned slightly, now taking a seat beside him. "Dawn loves you Paul," she assured him. "Ash is a really sweet guy and I understand why you're so intimidated by him, but Dawn really does love you, Paul."

Paul let those words sink in and he looked down, not sure of what to say to that.

"You need to stop feeling insecure with yourself and start looking at the reasons why she loves you so much."

Paul stared hard at the floor.

"So let me give you some advice," she placed her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look at her. "You're Paul Sumpter." She told him, as if to click something into his head.

Paul just stared at her, trying to understand what she was telling him.

"Man the fuck up." She demanded. With that being said, she got up from the bed and walked over to her dresser.

Paul watched as she walked over to her dresser as he let those words click into his head. Slowly, a small smirk formed across his lips after listening to those words.

* * *

**A/N: Next chapter, a lot of shit is going down. Just letting you guys know, but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and let me know your thoughts in the reviews!**


	23. Black

**A/N: This chapter is absolutely the longest chapter I've ever wrote in my life. It's at least 16,000 words long, no lie! So I suggest, take a break in between reading! Or if you can't handle a break, then continue reading till the end of the chapter lol. Um, yes the color symbolism is a **_**huge **_**spoiler for this chapter, just saying.**

_**Black **_**symbolizes heartbreak and death.**

* * *

Prom night came sooner than he thought and still Dawn hadn't forgiven him.

Paul licked his lips slowly as he entered the strip club, seeing a few girls topless dancing on the strip poles with heels and just lingerie panties. He kept a hard look as he passed by a few of the girls, in deep thought. He didn't know why he came here tonight. He just really needed to think.

He didn't even want to go to Prom, especially knowing that Dawn wouldn't even want to go with him.

Giselle told him to man up, but how could he? The love of his life didn't even want to speak to him at all, yet alone she doesn't even want to go to Prom with him. He knew what he did with Giselle was wrong, but he didn't think that Dawn would be _this _angry with him.

Paul hardened his eyes on a very beautiful looking girl dancing on one of the strip poles and took a seat in front of her, looking up at her.

She had long brown natural curly big hair and a light blue feather scarf around her neck, flowing around her nice shaped breasts. He stared hard at them, trying to clear out his mind for the night.

The girl was wearing red lingerie panties with black heels and she bit down hard on her bottom lip, dancing very sensually on the strip pole.

There was barely anyone there tonight. Just a few guys, but he happened to be the only one standing in front of her to watch her dance. He began to wonder who this girl was as he started looking at her face. She looked deeply hurt in the face, though she still danced like a porn star.

"_Take a good look at it, look at it now."_

As she was dancing, her eyes trailed down towards him as she continued to dance on the pole. Paul licked his lips slowly as he watched her dance, her eyes on his and his eyes on hers.

He found himself becoming slightly curious about this girl. Why was she looking so hurt and dancing sensually at the same time?

"_Might be the last time you'll have a go round."_

Paul rested the both of his hands on his knees, leaning back on his seat as he let his eyes trail down her body, trying to not focus on her face.

While looking down at her body, thoughts of Dawn began to form in his head.

He was seeing _her _body instead and just by thinking this, he frowned slightly.

So much has changed ever since she came into his life.

He used to be so distant and never let anyone inside his life except his brother. When he met Dawn, he kept trying to push himself away from her just for the simple fact that he couldn't stand that she was a part of the marching band's dance team. Not just that, he just never wanted anyone so close in his life. He always used girls for self-pleasure, but that was it, he never wanted anything more than that.

He let his eyes fall back on the girl's face, seeing as she slipped her eyes closed and moved around the pole.

"_Don't go too fast, don't go too slow, you've got to let your body flow."_

Paul watched as the girl slowly moved down to the floor, in attempt to crawl over to him. He kept a hard look on her as she slowly approached him.

Paul licked his lips and watch as she pulled off the feather scarf from around her neck and put it over the back of his neck, surprising him a bit.

She bit down on her lip gently as she danced sensually on the stage floor.

"_I like 'em attentive and I like 'em in control."_

"I can tell you're very interested me," she mumbled, continuing to move on the floor.

Paul watched as she continued to move and he smirked slightly. "And what makes you think that?"

"You're the only guy in this whole place who is even bothering to watch me dance," she pointed out, moving the scarf around his neck and pulling it back around her neck.

"Well that's a shame because you're really sexy," he said lowly, staring into her eyes.

"_Baby, it's yours. All yours. If you want it tonight. I'll give you the red light special all through the night."_

She stared at him seductively and continued to move on the floor, biting on her lower lip. Paul let his eyes trail down to her bottom lip, watching as she bit down on it.

"Want a lap dance?" she asked lowly, eyeing him.

Paul stared at her, smirking at that. "Doesn't that cost money?"

"I'll give you one for free," she told him, continuing to dance on the floor. "Only because you're the only guy here who is watching me."

"_Baby, it's yours. All yours. If you want it tonight. Just come through my door, take off my clothes, and turn on the red light."_

Paul stared at her for a brief moment, debating on that offer.

* * *

For the first time in her life, Giselle was so excited. Tonight was Prom night and Ash is going to take her. She hasn't been to a dance in such a long time, especially after all the stuff that has happened to her.

She smiled again as she applied eyeliner on her eyes. She already had her hair done and this time she had her hair completely straight with her hair parted in the middle.

She had Spanish music playing in her room as she got ready. The dress she picked out was light green and it was long and reached down to her toes. It flared out from her bottom waist down perfectly and around the waist it was decorated nicely with light green roses and diamonds. The bottom of the dress also had some light green roses and diamonds complimenting the dress.

Giselle continued to do her eye make-up, continuing to get ready.

"_Y aquí estoy yo... con la misma expresion."_

As she was continuing to do her eye make-up in the mirror, she heard her room door fly open slightly and she knew it was her mother.

It was silent for a moment, the only thing in the background was the Spanish music playing while Giselle got ready.

Her mother stared at her daughter getting ready, seeing that she had a beautiful long dress on and everything. Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Adónde vas?"

Giselle licked her lips and placed her mascara and eyeliner down on her dresser, now searching for her brown lipstick inside her make-up bag and her lip liner. "Me voy al baile," Giselle mumbled as she began applying lip liner around her lips.

"_Se venció el amor… sin un contrato entre tu y yo…"_

Her mother stared at her daughter as if she was crazy. "Tu estas loca," her mother called out, folding her arms together.

Giselle rolled her eyes, putting her lip liner away inside her make-up bag; she grabbed her brown lipstick and began applying it on her lips.

"Going to some dance looking like _that_," her mother made a face, drawing out the last word.

After applying lipstick on her lips, Giselle sighed and looked over at her mother. "I got asked to Prom, mami. Why can't you just be happy for me?"

"_You _got asked to Prom?" Her mother laughed.

Giselle shook her head and began searching for the jewelry she was going to wear. She wasn't in any mood to deal with her mother, especially on Prom night.

"Mira, relax. I'm just joking with you," her mother said, seeing that Giselle wasn't in any mood.

Giselle grabbed a pair of nice looking silver jewelry. The necklace she picked out was a diamond shaped necklace and she placed it around her neck with matching diamond silver oval-shaped earrings.

"It's kind of hard to tell," Giselle mumbled, now putting on her jewelry.

"Con quién vas?" her mother wondered.

"You don't know him," Giselle mumbled again, now beginning to put on her clear silver heels to match with the dress.

"Is he handsome?" her mother wondered, trying to make small talk with her daughter.

Giselle sighed again. She really didn't want to make small talk with her mother, especially after all the shit she put up with. "Yes, he's handsome…" she mumbled, now beginning to walk back over to her dresser to look at herself in the mirror.

"_Y ahora por un segundo, me ahogo en los mares de la realidad."_

"What's his name?" her mother continued. Though her and her mother never really had such a strong relationship, she still wondered who would be the one to take her daughter to Prom.

"You don't know him," Giselle repeated herself.

"Why can't you just tell me his name, mija?"

"Because you don't care," Giselle told her, now taking a seat on her bed. She grabbed her phone and checked to see if there was any messages or calls from Ash.

"I do care. Why do you think I don't?"

"Because ever since Silas did what he did to me, you've became an alcoholic and very heartless and inconsiderate. So why should I believe that you care now?" Giselle whipped her head towards her mother as she said this.

Her mother sighed, leaning against the doorway. "Because I'm your mother."

Giselle rolled her eyes and looked back at her phone again.

Her mother frowned slightly and walked inside her daughter's room, taking a seat on her daughter's bed. "I know I haven't been the best mother, but I really do care about you mija." Her mother started. "I just… hated how you've changed and how your father left us and—"

"Pero papi left us a long time ago and you only started changing when I changed." Giselle pointed out. "And anyway, I'm starting to fall back to my old self… if that makes you feel any better." Giselle rolled her eyes again as she sent a quick text to Ash.

Her mother frowned again and stared at her daughter for a long time. "You look beautiful."

Giselle slowly looked up from her phone to her mother, a small silence lingering between them. "Thanks, I guess."

"So are you going to tell me the name of the guy who is taking you to Prom?"

Giselle rolled her eyes again and sighed, dropping her phone down on her lap. "His name is Ash Ketchum."

"Ash Ketchum? That names sounds very familiar…"

"Maybe because he's technically one of the most well-known basketball players in this city." Giselle pointed out.

"Oh! He's _very _handsome. I didn't know you two were dating—"

"Oh no, we're not dating." Giselle answered.

Her mother raised her eyebrow.

"We're just friends… I'm not ready to date anyway," She added, looking down at her phone again.

Her mother stared at her for a little while longer and then smiled again. "Well, I'm happy for you."

Giselle looked up from her phone and stared at her mother for a short while until a small smile formed on her face. "Thanks mom."

* * *

Paul licked his lips slowly, his eyes moving from her waist to her breasts. The girl was sitting on his lap, giving him an intense lap dance. He stared at her breasts for a long while and then slowly let his eyes move up to her face as she placed her feather scarf around the back of his neck again.

"_She work it girl, she work the pole. She break it down, she take it low. She fine as hell, she about the dough. She doing her thing out on the flo,"_

The girl bit down on her bottom lip as she continued to give him a lap dance, staring down at him with a seductive look. He stared into her face though.

Usually, he would be hard right now, especially with the simple fact that she had her bare breasts out and she was practically naked all up on him.

Paul stared at her face as she continued to move her feather scarf around the back of his neck while dancing sensually against him. He could tell that she must have been deeply hurt about something because it was obvious that she was in pain. She was putting on a seducing look for show, but he could tell for a simple fact that she _really _doesn't want to do this.

"What's your name?" he wondered, watching as she moved against him.

She continued to move and answered his question, "Lorena." She mumbled.

Paul raised his eyebrow, not exactly believing that. "What's your real name?"

She pulled the scarf away from the back of his neck and put it around the back of her neck again, continuing to move against him. "Essence," she mumbled again.

He continued to stare at her, still believing otherwise. He chuckled lightly. "Why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me?"

She laughed lightly at his comment, continuing to give him a lap dance. "I don't give my name out to just anyone," she pointed out.

Paul raised his eyebrow.

"_Now don't stop, get it, get it. The way she shakin' make you want to hit it. Think she double jointed from the way she split. Got your head fucked up from the way she did it."_

She gave him a small seductive smile and continued to move against him, her hair rocking from side to side.

Paul licked his lips again, smirking. "Alright." He smiled. "So why are you a stripper?"

The curly browned haired dancer raised her eyebrow at him. "To entertain people," she answered, giving him an obvious questioning look.

He laughed lightly at that, keeping his hands to himself. At strip clubs, all attendants must keep their hands to themselves always, especially when given lap dances.

"That's bullshit," he scoffed lightly, watching as she continued to dance against him. "What's the real reason why you're a stripper?"

The girl stared at him as she danced, wondering why he was even bothering to make small talk with her anyway. Usually guys who go to the strip club talk to her dirty and for some reason he wasn't even talking to her dirty. "Why so interested?" She wondered.

He shrugged, taking a moment to look at her body again and then slowly look at her face. "Because you're too beautiful," he commented. She scoffed at that comment, continuing to dance on him. "And you got one hell of a nice body, but it would be better if you didn't show it off for entertainment."

She raised her eyebrow again at him, moving her hands down to his legs as she gripped them tightly, moving against him. "What are you trying to say?"

Paul shrugged and stared at her for a long moment before speaking. "I'm just saying that there's other ways to make money."

The girl left her eyebrow raised and she laughed again, a bit amused with his assumption. "And what makes you think I decided to be a stripper just because of the money?"

"Because being a stripper gives you fast money," he pointed out.

"_Baby this a new age, you like my new craze. Let's get together maybe we can start a new phase."_

The girl hardened her eyes on him as she continued to dance, now remaining quiet.

"And I can tell that you don't want this," he added.

Her jaw nearly fell open as she continued to move against him. She closed her mouth shut, wondering why he seemed to be concerned about her being a stripper. Any other guy would've loved it. "Who are you?"

"Just a regular guy who wants some _entertainment_." He looked in her eyes this time, a cocky smile forming on his lips after drawing the last word out purposely.

She rolled her eyes at his comment, continuing to dance on him. "So what's your story?" She wondered.

"What makes you think I have a story?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Because you're the only guy in here who seems to have a problem with me being a stripper, so I assume you must have a story." She breathed, smiling at him. She pulled the scarf from behind her neck and pulled it behind his neck again while moving more up against him.

Paul licked his lips and shook his head. "I'm not telling you anything until you tell me your name," he told her.

She bit down on her bottom lip and Paul was quick to catch it. Lip biting is one thing that always caught his attention and it never failed.

"_You got me saying ayyyyooo I'm tired of using technology. Why don't you sit down on top of me?"_

"My name is Star," she said finally, pulling the scarf from behind his neck.

Paul raised his eyebrow at her. "You sure?"

She let out an annoyed sigh and brought all her hair to one side of her neck, the revealing part of her neck revealing a star shaped tattoo.

Paul took a moment to look at it and watched as she let her hair fall back to both sides of her neck again. She placed the scarf behind her neck once more and continued to move on him, still giving him a lap dance.

He smirked slightly.

"And what's yours?" She wondered, still dancing on him.

"Paul," he licked his lips as he let his eyes wander off to her breasts again.

"_Ooh, she's want it, uh uh, she wants it. Ooh, she wants it, so, I gotta give it to her."_

"It suits you," she mumbled. Paul narrowed his eyes at her and licked his lips again.

"So what's your story?" She questioned him again.

He shrugged as he let his eyes fall to her hair. "My senior prom started about 30 minutes ago and I decided to come here because the girl I want to go with doesn't even want to go me, so I said fuck it, I'll come to the strip club instead."

"And how exactly is _here _going to make you feel any better?" Star wondered as she continued to move on him.

"Cause seeing a fucking pair of tits is all I really need right now," he mumbled, letting his eyes fall on her bare breasts again.

She grinned, now laughing at his statement. "And I thought you had a problem with me being a stripper?"

"I do," he said, now looking at her into her brown eyes. "Because you're too beautiful to be selling your body for money."

Star smirked, still moving on him. "Says the guy who can't seem to take his eyes off of my 'tits'."

"Well this _is _a strip club," he said, smirking at her now.

"How old are you?" She wondered, a bit curious about him.

"Nineteen," he told her. "How about you?"

"Twenty two." She trailed off, smiling brightly at him. "You're a bit young to be here at a strip club, don't you think? Especially since you're only in high school."

He shrugged and smirked at her again. "I technically graduate in another month. And I ain't young. I'm a man."

Star laughed at his comment and continued to give him a lap dance.

"_Your hips, your thighs, you got me hypnotized, let me tell you."_

"So this girl you wanted to go to Prom with…" she started and Paul raised his eyebrow at her. "Do you love her?" she wondered, a bit curious.

She wasn't always the type to make conversation with the guys she gives lap dances to because all the conversations she had always ended up sexual, but for some reason this conversation seemed to be a lot different, and she really liked it.

Paul stared at the girl for a brief moment, as if in deep thought.

Star watched him as she continued to dance on him, deciding to wait until he was ready to answer her question.

"Yeah," he said finally.

"Does she love you?" She wondered, still dancing on him.

He took a moment to think about it and then he frowned lightly, looking down. "I don't know…" he sighed. "I kind of screwed things up with her and it's basically too late now."

Star licked her lips slowly and smiled lightly as she danced against him. "No it isn't," she told him.

Paul returned his eyes onto hers with an eyebrow raised.

"You said you love her, right? And you want her to be your date to your Senior Prom?"

He nodded.

"Then you should get the hell out of here right now and go to Prom." She suggested. "Don't waste your time here when you could be winning her back tonight."

Paul stared at Star for a brief moment, now seeing that she had stopped dancing on him, but staring at him with a serious look.

He stared back at her as if in deep thought and then he slowly let his eyes narrow to her hair.

Suddenly, Giselle's words of advice crossed through his brain again.

"_You're Paul Sumpter." She told him, as if to click something into his head._

_Paul just stared at her, trying to understand what she was telling him._

"_Man the fuck up." She demanded._

Paul cleared his throat and continued to stare at Star.

* * *

Nervously, Ash adjusted his light green tie and his green corsage, making sure he was nice and neat looking, especially for Senior Prom.

As he stood before Giselle's door with a bouquet of flowers and a corsage to match with her dress, all he could think about is her yelling at him or something. He was used to it anyway, after every approach, she always got mad at him or got easily annoyed when she couldn't get her way. He just hoped that she wouldn't she get mad or annoyed, he hoped she would be happy.

Ash slicked his hair with his hands and suddenly felt his breath hitch as he saw the door open. His heart nearly dropped when he saw a glance of bright diamonds shinning at him. He looked from the bottom of her dress, seeing how big and beautiful it flared out with light green roses and diamonds decorating the bottom of the dress nicely. He slowly let his eyes move up to her waist, seeing that it also had green roses and diamonds around it and when he finally looked up to her face, he nearly felt his breath being taken away.

Her straight hair flowed out perfectly with the way she looked with her eye make-up and lipstick. He found a huge difference, especially with the hairstyle. He was always so used to seeing her hair with big wavy curls, but now she had it completely straight for the first time and he really liked it.

Giselle cleared her throat, now catching Ash's attention again.

His face immediately turned red as soon as he realized he had been a bit spaced out after seeing how beautiful she looked.

"Hey," she smiled brightly.

"Wow," he said as if in awe, "You're gorgeous," he breathed, obviously infatuated with her.

Giselle blushed and saw he had a bouquet of flowers and a corsage for her.

Ash quickly noticed what she was looking at. "Oh," he walked up to her and handed her the flowers. "I got these for you," he said nervously. "I hope you like them," he smiled again.

Giselle giggled lightly as she gladly took the flowers in her hands.

"And I got you a corsage to match mine," he smiled.

She raised her eyebrow and looked down at his tux, seeing that he had his corsage pinned up near the top of his shoulder. She blushed again. "You look very handsome."

A deep blush crossed his face and Giselle giggled again.

"Ay dios!" her mother exclaimed, brushing past Giselle, nearly knocking her down as she stood before Ash. Giselle groaned in annoyance.

Her mother eyed Ash for a very long time and brought her hands up to touch his face. Ash stared at the woman before him, now becoming slightly confused.

"Ay que lindo. You are handsome, papi," The woman said.

"Thanks," Ash blushed, smiling at the woman. "Are you Giselle's mother?"

"Si, si," her mother said, still taking a moment to check him out. "You can call me Sabrina, mijo," she said, saying her name in a Spanish accent.

Ash laughed lightly and nodded his head. "Your daughter is beautiful just like you."

"Aww, gracias papi," her mother smiled, taking a step back. She stood beside her daughter and began speaking in Spanish to her. "Mira, tú no me dijiste que él era _este_ guapo."

Ash blinked, staring at her mother and having no clue what she just said.

Giselle laughed lightly at her mother's comment and responded. "Mami, ahora no," she giggled, looking up at Ash again.

Ash chuckled lightly, still having no clue what they just said.

"Mira, is that a limo?" Her mother asked, pointing at the limo behind Ash and sitting on the road.

Giselle's eyes widened slightly and stood to the side to see the limo that her mother apparently saw. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw the limo. "Oh my god…"

Ash blushed deeply, smiling again. "I wanted to make it special for you."

"But this seems like we're together instead of being just friends," she gasped, still taken by surprise by the limo.

The raven haired basketball player continued to smile. "We are friends, but I'm making sure you have a _great _senior prom," he smiled. "Besides, after all the stuff you been through. You deserve it."

She let her eyes fall on him and smiled brightly. "Thank you, Ash."

Her mother nearly screamed, quickly causing their attention. "Aww you guys are so cute!" she exclaimed, quickly. "Giselle, give me your phone so I can take pictures!"

Giselle laughed lightly and searched through her small purse. She quickly found her phone and passed it to her mom.

Ash laughed and stood back, waiting for Giselle to get by his side so they could take a picture. As they got in posing position, Giselle's mother took a photo, demanding another pose.

Giselle quickly thought of a cute pose and she kissed Ash on the cheek while holding her bouquet of flowers in her hand.

Her mother squealed as she took the photo. She seemed to be a bit more excited than her own daughter, which Ash found slightly amusing. He didn't know her mother much, but after witnessing how she is that night, he had to say she was pretty interesting.

Her mother handed Giselle her phone back and smiled brightly at the two. "Gorgeous photos. Maravillosa pareja!"

"Mom, we're not a couple, we're just friends." Giselle laughed, looking over at Ash.

Ash giggled again and took a moment to check his phone, seeing the time. "We should get going now. Prom started like an hour and a half ago."

"Okay, go, go!" Her mother demanded.

Giselle's eyes widened slightly as her mother pushed her and Ash towards the limo.

As they reached the limo, Ash opened the door for Giselle and let her walk in. He listened as she gasped, seeing how nice it was inside. "Wow, this is perfect," she said in awe.

"I'm glad you like it," he smiled, now walking toward the other side of the limo.

"Mira, Ash!"

Ash turned his head to see her mother call for him.

"You better make sure my daughter has a good time tonight or I'll whip your culo!"

Ash nearly laughed his ass off at that last comment, understanding that last word which obviously meant 'ass'. He smiled. "Don't worry Sabrina, I'll make sure she has a good time."

"Muy bien," Sabrina smiled. "Have fun!"

Ash nodded his head and climbed inside the limo, closing the door before him. He looked over at Giselle only to see a huge smile on her face.

"I can already see that this night is going to be amazing." Giselle said in excitement.

* * *

Prom was located in Grand Hyatt Veilstone City, just in 42nd street where Times Square was.

Music was already booming loudly and Dawn could hear all the excitement going on inside the ballroom of Grand Hyatt and she took a brief step as she opened the doors and walked inside the ballroom.

She gasped lightly at the sight before her, seeing all the amazing things before her. It was freaking _beautiful _inside. The room was tinted in orange red, the whole floor carpeted in red and orange circle shapes. The tables and chairs were a unique tone of blood red, and the chairs were very comfortable looking and Dawn could tell just by the simple fact that it was a Savoy ballroom.

Very beautiful and exotic looking. She loved every bit of it.

Dawn bit down on her lower lip and stood in the front of the entrance, seeing a load of people already at Prom dancing and having a good time.

She frowned slightly, now thinking about Paul.

"_I don't care if we on the run. Baby as long as I'm next to you."_

"Dawn, you're here!" A voice called, and Dawn already recognized it as May.

May pulled Dawn into a hug. "I was beginning to think you stood me up," she laughed, pulling away from the hug.

Dawn giggled lightly, "I was just busy getting ready."

May took a moment to take a look at Dawn's dress and hair. She had her hair done in a similar big braid like how Repunzel had it in the movie Tangled, but it being brought to the right side of her neck. The dress she helped Dawn pick out looked absolutely good on her.

Dawn had on a see through sexy long prom dress with lots of crystals around it and long sleeves. The diamonds covered all the right places of her body and made her arms and legs look as if she was wearing just diamonds to the Prom, but really she wasn't, she was wearing a really beautiful dress. Her make-up was done simple liquid eye liner and mascara with red lipstick and nice diamond earrings.

"That dress sure looks good on you," May pointed out, smiling at Dawn. "You look beautiful!"

"Thank you," Dawn smiled and looked at May's dress too.

May had on some kind of Pageant dress with spaghetti straps, beads, crystals, tulle champagne backless sheer dress. It was see through as well, but only the bottom half and it looked like a mermaid vintage prom kind of gown. Her hair was flowed down nicely into waves and her make-up was done very exotic. She wore red lipstick as well.

"You look beautiful too," Dawn smiled.

"So are you ready to enjoy Prom without Paul?" May wondered.

By the look on her face, May already knew the answer to her question.

"_And if loving you is a crime, tell me why do I bring out the best in you?"_

May rolled her eyes, instantly becoming annoyed. "Dawn, come on, do not let Paul ruin this night for you."

"You know I really wanted to go with him, May, I can't really help that I actually want him to be here tonight," she frowned, now thinking of him again. "Maybe I should call him…"

"Dawn, he is the one who was unfaithful to you, remember? He's the one who slept with Giselle." May pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was only because he couldn't stand the fact that I wanted to break up for a little while. And anyway, I promised him that I would never leave him."

"Dawn, people break promises all the time." May told her, now getting serious. "Just because you broke that one promise, doesn't make you a bad person."

"_I hear sirens while we make love, loud as hell but they don't know."_

"But you don't know him like I do, May." Dawn commented. "He grew up with a hard life,"

"That doesn't make it okay for him to call you a whore and do all that other stuff to you,"

Dawn frowned again.

"Was he the one crying over you? No. You were crying over him. Therefore, fuck him, and enjoy Prom without him."

"But May—"

"Listen to yourself, Dawn, you sound freaking ridiculous stressing over someone like him anyway." May said, now getting upset. "Paul is very selfish and you don't need to be with someone who is like that."

Dawn stared at May for a long while.

"_I will hold your heart and your gun, I don't care if they come, no."_

"But I love him." She said finally.

May left her mouth open and bit down on her bottom lip, now frowning slightly for her best friend. "I know… but if he really loved you, he would've never hurt you."

Dawn's mouth fell open slightly, at a loss for words.

* * *

Exiting out of the strip club, Paul waited for Star behind him, seeing that she was now dressed in clothes.

When she walked out, she stood in front of him just a few steps away from the entrance.

Paul looked at her and he was instantly taken by surprise when she took a step closer to him and pressed her lips against his.

Before he could even kiss her back, she pulled away and smiled at him. "It was nice meeting you, tonight."

Paul stared into her eyes, a bit confused of why she kissed him in the first place.

"I wish you good luck tonight at Prom," she smiled. "I'm sure you will win your girlfriend back."

He blinked, still confused about her. But after clicking her words into his head, he smiled at her. "Thanks." He said. "It was nice meeting you too, Star."

Star smiled and placed her palm upon his cheek.

Paul blinked again, staring into her eyes.

"Goodbye," she whispered. Paul felt her hand slipped away from his cheek and watched as she began walking away.

He continued to watch as the girl walked away, a smile now forming on his face.

Tonight he was going to win Dawn back.

It only took him at least twenty minutes to get home and when he walked inside, his brother nearly chewed his face off along with his girlfriend.

"Paul! Prom nearly started like two hours ago and you're still not dressed?"

Paul rolled his eyes as he entered the living room. "I don't exactly have anything to wear, Reggie."

"Why not?" Reggie wondered, a bit confused. "I thought you had something a long time ago?"

"I didn't bother going prom shopping since I started having problems with Dawn,"

"Does this mean you're not going to Prom?" Reggie asked.

"Oh, I'm going to Prom." Paul said. "I just need something to wear."

"I can find you something," Maylene offered.

Paul let his eyes fall on the pink haired side kick, raising his eyebrow. "You do realize that I am not a chick?"

Maylene rolled her eyes at Paul's sarcasm. "Shut up. I got good taste in Prom clothes, especially for guys and if you want to look good, you have to get ideas from _me._"

"Good, because I'm going to win Dawn back tonight." Paul said, sure with his assumption.

"Perfect! You have to look your absolute best, especially for her." Maylene began to get up and gather her things. "What size are you in dress shirts, pants, and tux?" Maylene wondered.

Paul rolled his eyes. "Oh for the love of god, I'll just go with you." Paul pulled out the keys to his car as he began heading for the door.

Reggie smiled as the two began to head for the door. "Don't take too long!"

* * *

Paul stared at Maylene's pink hair as she folded his silver tie into a bow, making sure it was secured where it was supposed to be. She adjusted his red wine tuxedo jacket over his black button up dress shirt with his matching red wine pants to go along with the jacket. She smiled as she fixed Paul, making sure he looked nice and decent.

He felt a bit awkward, having her dress him. He wasn't used to being dressed by anyone, he was always used to dressing himself.

Paul licked his lips, his long hair being in the way of the whole outfit itself. Maylene took a moment to stare at his hair and she shook her head. "We need to do something different with your hair." She said, obviously not sounding satisfied with the way his hair looks.

Paul chuckled at that comment. "Like what?"

"I don't know, something better than _that._"

Paul blinked. He had his hair completely down, reaching his shoulders and everything, but it was very messy and didn't go with his prom attire.

"Why not put it in a ponytail?" he suggested.

"Oh, just like Reggie?" Maylene bit down on her lower lip. "Yeah, that hair style is super cute. But I'm going to make it look decent on you. Where's your hair brush?"

"Inside of the top drawer,"

Maylene quickly retrieved the brush from the top drawer and made him face his mirror. She began to brush his hair back into a nice low ponytail just like how his brother does it and she combed it gently.

Paul watched as she combed his hair in the mirror, keeping a straight face.

After slicking his hair back into a nice low ponytail, Maylene stood in front of him and took a moment to see how he looked.

Paul gulped, becoming a bit uncomfortable with the way she was looking at him.

"Have you ever seen the movie Selena? With Jennifer Lopez?"

Paul nodded.

"You know the guy who played Chris Perez?"

Paul's face fell blank, immediately realizing who she was comparing him to. "I do not look like him."

"You do now," She smiled. "And he's freaking handsome." Maylene pointed out.

He rolled his eyes and took a moment to look at himself in the mirror.

Maylene stood back as she let him view himself in the mirror.

Paul stared at his outfit from top down and a smirk formed on his mouth. "I look… nice." He said, now beginning to get cocky.

She smiled softly at him. "I know you're going to win her back," she mumbled.

After hearing that comment, he turned to look at her, listening to that comment.

Paul smiled at her and nodded his head. "Thanks, Maylene."

* * *

Just by looking at the outside view of Prom, Giselle felt her heart beating fast against her chest. She stared at the window anxiously, her hand gripping the handle of the door.

Ash watched as she looked out the window, looking at all the people entering the Prom. He knew she was feeling very nervous, especially since everyone basically knows what kind of person she 'was'.

He let her take a moment to stare out the window for a little while longer and then he cleared his throat. She slowly turned her head to look at him.

"Everything is going to be okay," he promised, letting his fingers brush her hand.

Giselle stared at him for a little while longer and then smiled lightly.

"You ready to go?"

She took a moment to think and nodded her head. "Yes," she breathed, sure with her answer.

Ash smiled and soon let go of her hand, getting out of the limo first.

Giselle watched as his door closed and then she looked out her window again, gulping nervously as she waited for Ash to walk around the limo and open the door for her.

It only took a second for him to walk around the limo and she watched as he opened the door for her.

He held out his hand for her to take and she stared at it for just a brief moment and then let him take her hand. As she got out of the limo, she could already feel eyes on her.

Giselle felt her heart speed up even more as Ash began to guide her toward the entrance of the ballroom. Many eyes were looking her way. Some were surprised, some were shocked, and some were even confused. She did her best to ignore the people looking her way as Ash walked with her. Tonight she was going to have fun and be happy despite what other people think.

Ash gripped her hand tightly and walked inside the ballroom.

"_Why you call me your dream babe? And foolish of me I believe that. You said every king needs his queen, babe. That's why you need me, baby."_

The music was playing loudly and a lot of people were already having a great time. Ash smiled as he looked at all the decorations, seeing how beautiful the Prom looked. It was most definitely unique looking and he loved it.

Ash kept his hand in Giselle's and began to guide her through the crowd. Already, there were eyes being sent his and her way, some shocked because he was with her and some surprised.

Giselle did her best to smile, but her smile kept falling into a firm line with all the attention she had received. She let out a short breath as they walked past a few people.

Ash continued to walk through the crowd and stopped when he found Dawn dancing with one of the Blue Diamonds.

"Hey Dawn!" Ash called over the music.

The Blue Diamond looked over at him and smiled. "Hey Ash."

Ash let go of Giselle's hand and went to give her a hug.

Giselle stood back awkwardly, not sure of how to act around Dawn, especially with what happened with Paul.

"_Now there's no we babe. There's just you and there's me baby."_

"You look nice." Dawn commented after checking his outfit out. When her eyes fell on Giselle, her smile soon fell into a straight line and Ash could already see the tension that was about to happen with them.

"You invited _her _here?" she asked, sounding upset in the voice.

Ash sighed slightly and looked at Giselle then back at Dawn. "Look, I know you don't like her and I know that she's done some pretty messed up stuff to the both of us, but I forgave her."

Dawn kept a straight face at Ash and then slowly narrowed her eyes at Giselle. "She doesn't deserve to be forgiven," she snapped.

"Yeah, but everybody deserves a second chance." He told her.

Dawn rolled her eyes and Giselle sighed, deciding to stand in front of Dawn.

Dawn raised her eyebrow and folded her arms together when she saw Giselle standing in front of her.

"Look," the brunette started. "I know I was a complete bitch to you, especially for sleeping with Paul several times, but… I really am sorry."

Dawn shook her head, rolling her eyes again. "Fuck you."

Giselle nodded her head simply. "I understand why you would be mad, but—"

"No, you don't understand." Dawn started, taking a step closer to her. "You would _never _understand. You know why? Because all you care about is yourself, and that's it."

The brunette remained quiet as Dawn continued.

"You took advantage of Ash, you took advantage of me, and hell you even took advantage of freaking Paul!" Dawn shouted.

"_But in love, love, love, love. You gotta act like a woman and think like a man."_

"Dawn, stop." Ash grabbed Dawn by the arm, trying to get her together but Dawn snatched her arm out of Ash's grip.

"No," she snapped her head at him. "She used you Ash! Why are you even giving her a second chance? She doesn't deserve it!"

"Because I don't hold grudges," he commented.

Dawn shook her head and stood in front of Giselle again. "You don't _deserve _Ash." She said in rage. "You had sex with Paul more than _once _and you think that you can just say sorry and think everything will be okay?"

Giselle shook her head, "No, I just—"

"Save it." Dawn interrupted her. "Because everything you say now is completely irrelevant to me. I will _never _forgive you."

The brunette slowly closed her mouth shut and Dawn could see tears forming in her eyes, so she laughed. "Are you really in your feelings right now?"

Giselle opened her mouth to speak. "You have every right to be angry with me," she breathed, blinking her tears back. "But Paul loves you, he really does."

Dawn scoffed.

"I'm serious." Giselle told her. "Look, you don't have to forgive me, but at least forgive Paul."

Dawn stared at her for a brief moment.

"_Now I'ma keep it realer with you now that I've ever been. We should have never been, girl we was better friends. You didn't have to tell me what, where, why and when. Oooh why I didn't need it, cause you wasn't my girlfriend."_

After staring at her for a little while longer, she began to speak. "I can do whatever I want," she mumbled. With that being said, Dawn looked back at Ash and then shook her head, beginning to brush through the crowd.

* * *

Paul took a moment to look at himself again, satisfied with the way he looked. Reggie already took a couple pictures of him, some of them he actually liked and he was thinking about posting. But he would do that later.

He hoped that tonight would be the night Dawn would forgive him, especially after everything they have been through together.

He smiled once more and went inside his dresser on the second drawer. His smile soon fell flat when he saw the gun he was saving sitting on top of his folded clothes. Just then a thought occurred into his head just at the sight of the gun.

"_I hope you die,_"

He could hear those horrible words ringing through his head again and once again, those words hit him hard in the heart.

Paul stared at the gun for a little while longer and then grabbed it, shoving it deep inside his jacket and making sure it wasn't noticeable. He had to get rid of that gun.

"Paul, hurry up! I'm sure you don't want to be late to Prom!" Reggie called from the living room.

Paul licked his lips and checked himself out in the mirror once more.

After looking at himself, he soon left out of his room and began heading for the front door, ready to leave.

"Paul,"

Paul stopped and turned his back to Reggie and Maylene who were staring at him in awe.

"Say hello to Dawn for me," Reggie told him.

Paul smirked.

"And make sure you take lots of pictures with her!" Maylene smiled.

"I will." Paul smiled. "Thanks."

He licked his lips and soon walked out of his place, closing the door behind him.

All he could do right now is pray that Dawn will take him back tonight.

* * *

"Dawn is going to be alright. Don't worry about it," Ash said, trying to comfort Giselle as they stood in the middle of the dance floor.

Giselle nodded her head, trying her best to relax herself. She didn't want her night to be ruined, especially after being confronted by Dawn. She knew what she did with Paul was wrong, but she really wanted to try and fix things and become a better person.

"_Where would I be without my baby? The thought alone might break me."_

The brunette looked over Ash's shoulder and saw one of his friends on the basketball team coming up to approach him, but she also noticed that there was girl beside his friend, instantly recognizing her as Leaf.

Ash felt a hand touch him on the shoulder and turned to see who it was. When he saw it was Gary, he suddenly felt anger form inside of him. "What do you want?"

"I just came to say sorry about everything," Gary sighed. "And look man, we've been best friends for years, I don't want that to go to waste over some bullshit."

Ash kept a serious look on Gary and Gary took a moment to look over at the girl beside Ash, instantly recognizing the girl as Giselle. "You must be Giselle," he assumed.

Giselle just looked at him and then slowly narrowed her eyes at Leaf. Leaf looked at her too.

"I'm Gary Oak," he motioned his hand over to hers. "It's really an honor to meet the girl that my best mate here always talks about."

Giselle let out a small laugh and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you too."

Gary smiled at her and then looked over at Ash.

Ash continued to keep a serious look on his spiky haired friend and Gary sighed again. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

It took just a moment for Ash to make up his mind. "Fine," he mumbled.

"Alright,"

When the two boys walked off to the side to talk, Giselle looked at Leaf again and Leaf looked over at her.

"_Where would I be without you? Where would I be without you? I only think about you, Oh what you're saying is true. I know you're tired of being lonely. I need someone to hold me. So baby girl put it on me. I will, I will, I will."_

They stared at each other for a little while longer and Giselle decided to be the bigger person and broke the silence between them. "Hi,"

"Hi," Leaf trailed off, a bit surprised.

The last time they spoke was so long ago and Leaf could still remember when Giselle broke off their friendship and still to this day, it still hurts her. Giselle felt the same way deep down. Leaf had always been a good friend to her and she could honestly say that Leaf has always been one of the only few people that actually really cared about her.

"How have you been?" Giselle wondered, trying to shake up a conversation.

Leaf smiled. "I've been okay. What about you?"

"I'm getting better." Giselle smiled. "I miss you, Leaf."

"I miss you too, Giselle." She frowned.

"I'm sorry for everything I've done, Leaf."

"It's okay. You were going through a lot and I forgive you for that." Leaf smiled. "I see that Ash really helped you out."

Giselle laughed lightly at that comment. "Well, if you put it that way."

Leaf giggled and walked up to her, giving her a tight hug.

Giselle hugged her back tightly and closed her eyes shut. "It's really good to see you again,"

* * *

After debating on what to do with that gun, Paul decided to throw it in a dumpster far away from his place.

A few minutes later, he decided to buy her a bouquet of blue roses, something that he knew she would've loved. But when he came across an expensive jewelry store, which mostly consisted of rings, a thought soon came across his head.

_Paul smiled, "And how about your long term goals?"_

_Dawn began to wonder what the future would be like and she smiled again, "I see us married with a son and maybe a daughter. I also see myself as a famous dancer."_

_Paul couldn't tell the future, but if he could, he would most definitely make sure that those things will happen for them. He honestly wouldn't mind if it did because he loved her so much._

Marriage…

Paul licked his lips and pulled the door open, now walking inside of the jewelry store.

There were just a few people looking around, but some turned his way when they noticed how nicely dressed he was. Paul ignored the attention he gained, however, and looked inside a glass that contained a ton of gorgeous rings.

All he could see was a bunch of expensive rings right before eyes, but he found himself not really caring about the prices.

There were many beautiful rings, lots of them that contained a lot of diamonds, pearls, and platinum. There was even a variety of colors such as silver, gold, and even rose gold.

"You lookin' very sharp tonight," one of the male workers commented.

Paul looked up at the man on the other side of the glass counter. "Thanks," he mumbled. He instantly recognized the guy in front of him. It was Brock, and Brock happened to be one of the varsity basketball players at his school. It surprised him to see Brock work at a place like this, but then again he always knew Brock is a sucker for girls. Paul licked his lips and narrowed his eyes back at the rings.

"So where you heading off to?" Brock asked, eyeing the bouquet of blue roses Paul had in his hands.

"Prom," Paul mumbled, staring hard at the rings.

Brock smiled and leaned down at his level. "You know most of the rings here are engagement rings," he commented.

Paul looked up at the male, listening to those words come out of that guys mouth.

He always saw himself wanting to finally get that ring for her just a few years later, but for some reason, he felt that maybe now might be the time.

Giselle told him to man up, so he had to step up his game.

"I know," he said. "I think tonight might be the perfect night to propose to the girl of my dreams."

Brock stared at Paul for a short moment and then suddenly a bright smile formed on his face. He let his hand out for Paul to shake. "Well I'm glad to help out. The names Brock."

Paul raised his eyebrow. "I know who you are," He gave a hand shake to the brown pointy haired worker. "Paul," he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the rings again.

"So what is your girl into? What does she like?"

Paul licked his lips. "Well she's girly for sure. And she loves diamonds."

"So she's a diamond girl?" Brock raised his eyebrow, a smile still on his face. "She must be worth a fortune then."

"If you put it that way," Paul smirked.

Brock instantly pulled out a key from his pocket and Paul watched as he grabbed a set of rings and placed them over the counter for Paul to view. "These are one of the best diamonds that we have, some of them even have platinum in it."

"Platinum? That's even better." Paul took a good view at the rings Brock picked out for him and he tried to think of what he wanted, but he wasn't sure of what he wanted or what she would like. He knew that she loved diamonds no doubt, but he had no idea which she would like best.

"Shit, this is hard…" he sighed, trying to find a decent ring.

"Have you decided which color you want to go for? Many people always go for silver, some even choose gold, but my personal favorite is rose gold." Brock pointed out.

Paul looked up at Brock, a bit curious about why rose gold is his favorite. "How come?"

"Because a lot of girls like rose gold just cause the simple fact is that it's different, and you rarely see engagement rings that are that color."

Paul nodded his head, in deep thought of what he wanted.

Rose gold…

Okay, so if he goes with rose gold, it has to be the _perfect _ring. It had to have enough diamonds and platinum, and maybe even titanium. Paul wanted it to be a _set _of rings, possibly three.

He was thinking big and he knew it would be a lot of money, but Paul had at least $10,000 saved.

Hell Dawn was worth a lot of money to him. He didn't want to spend her engagement ring on something petty and cheap.

"Alright. I wanna go with a set of three," he decided, looking at Brock again.

"A set of three? That's thinking very big." Brock said in surprise. "A three ring set usually symbolizes the wedding ring, the engagement ring, and the first anniversary ring." He pointed out. "But I can see you haven't got married yet,"

Paul stared hard at the rings again and decided again. "Okay, then how about two? Instead of including a wedding ring, since I haven't proposed yet, how about a promise ring to go with the engagement ring?"

"I can work with that." Brock smirked.

Paul smiled. "Okay, well I'll go with both of the rings being rose gold and the engagement ring has to have three diamond stones on it combined with platinum." He decided. "And the promise ring should be a variety of diamonds engraved on it."

"Okay," Brock nodded his head and guided Paul over to the rose gold rings.

"On this side is the engagement rings. Each containing diamond and platinum," Brock pointed toward the left side of the glass and Paul stood in front of it, searching for the perfect ring that he had in mind with three diamond stones on it.

"And on this side is the promise rings." Brock pointed toward the right side of the glass and Paul looked at it for just a split second, then let his eyes narrow back to the engagement rings once again.

He was taking a big risk tonight.

Dawn was mad at him and very hurt with him, but he didn't want to lose her, he loved her too much to let her go.

It only took a couple minutes for Paul to find the ring he had in mind and once his eyes fell on a ring that caught his eyes, he immediately wanted it.

"I want that one." Paul pointed his finger at the ring he wanted.

The ring was rose gold of course, but the diamonds on it looked very beautiful and he knew that Dawn would be taken away as soon as she lays her eyes on it. He stared at the big diamond embedded in the middle of the ring along with two small circular diamonds around it, and with several tinier diamonds that surrounded the two small circular ones.

"Oh, now _that _one is most definitely going to take her breath away," Brock gasped.

It took only a moment for Brock to get the ring for him and Paul noticed that it was only $3,540. It was a lot of money, he had to say, but it was most definitely worth getting.

After picking out the engagement ring, he turned to the other side of the glass counter and searched for a promise ring.

"You must really love this girl if you're willing to spend this much money on her," Brock chuckled, surprised.

Paul laughed at that comment as he continued to search for a promise ring with his eyes. "She means a lot to me," he mumbled.

"How did you even manage to get that much money?" Brock wondered.

"Weed." Paul chuckled. "I got a lot at the house and whenever I'm not busy, I sell it. I been doing it for a while now."

Brock laughed. "Well weed does sell pretty fast."

"Exactly," Paul laughed.

Brock smiled as he waited for Paul to find the perfect promise ring to go with the engagement ring.

Paul's eyes fell on a rose gold promise ring which contained a variety of diamonds, just like the one he pictured. Paul smiled and pointed at the ring. "I want that one."

"That one is hot," Brock said in surprise, now getting the promise ring for him.

The promise ring was at least $1,200 dollars. So most likely he'll be spending at least $4,000 dollars, maybe even $5,000, but he wasn't really focused on how much he'll be paying. He was too busy picturing the look on Dawn's face when she sees her two set engagement ring.

"So do you want any quotes or something on the rings?"

Paul took a moment to think. "How long will it take you to do?"

"About an hour."

"Yeah," Paul decided. "For the engagement ring, I want on the inside of the ring, for it to say 'I'll love you forever.' And the promise ring, I want for it to say 'No need to worry, I'll always be here.'"

"Awwww,"

Paul rolled his eyes slightly at Brock's excitement. "That's cute."

"Can you hurry up though because I don't want to be too late to Prom than I already am."

"Alright!"

Brock grabbed both of the rings and went off to do the engravings.

Twenty minutes flew by and Paul kept checking his phone. It was going on 11 pm and knowing proms, people always leave around that time to go party somewhere else.

Brock came back after a few more moments and Paul's eyes lit up. He pulled out his credit card and handed it over to Brock.

Brock took the credit card in his hand. "Do you want me to put both of the rings into one box?"

Paul nodded his head.

It only took just a few moments for Brock to retrieve the money from his credit card. After getting the money out, he handed it to Paul and soon placed both of the rings neatly into one box.

"Can I see the engraving right quick?" Paul asked, impatient.

Brock nodded, a smile still on his face.

As he took a moment to view the engagement ring, a smile formed on his face on the words inside. It was in a really nice font and it said the exact words he wanted, _"I'll love you forever,"_

He then grabbed the promise ring and read the words inside. _"No need to worry, I'll always be here."_

He smiled to himself. Dawn always says 'No need to worry,' and every time she says that something bad always happens. But this time, he knew something bad wouldn't happen just because of the simple fact that it was _him _saying those words, not her.

After viewing the rings for a short moment, he placed the rings back inside the box, the way Brock had them set up.

Brock grabbed a nice bag and put the box inside.

"I'm sure you're going to be a lucky man tonight," Brock winked.

Paul laughed lightly at his comment.

Brock nodded his head and handed the bag to Paul.

"Have fun at Prom,"

Paul smiled again. "Yeah, thanks."

As he walked out of the ring store, excitement soon filled inside of him.

Dawn was worth a lot to him. He would buy her the whole world if he wanted to. Take her places to New Orleans, Egypt, or even Hawaii. He would just do anything for her because he loved her that much.

Paul smiled again.

It was now time to go to Prom.

* * *

"Do you think Paul is going to win her back tonight?" Maylene wondered.

She was laying down on the couch with Reggie, her head on his chest and looking at the coffee table in front of them.

"I'm sure he is," Reggie assumed. "Dawn really does love Paul and he loves her, so I'm sure everything will go as planned."

"I hope so,"

Suddenly, a loud knock occurred at the front door and Reggie raised his eyebrow, narrowing his eyes at the door.

"Is Paul back?" Maylene wondered, a bit confused why someone was knocking on the door.

"I don't think so," Reggie kept his eyebrows furrowed together and listened as someone knocked on the door again.

"I'll go get it," Maylene let out a breath of air and got off the couch, walking toward the front door.

When she unlocked the door and opened it, she was immediately taken by surprised when the person who was knocking instantly turned her around and wrapped his right arm around her neck, nearly choking her and with a gun held at the side of her head. "Where the fuck is Paul!?" an angry male voice demanded.

Reggie immediately got up from the couch after realizing what was going on and his eyes widened in fear, seeing that it was Trip and he was in rage, in deep rage with a gun pointed at the side of Maylene's head and his arm locked around her neck, not letting her get away.

"He's not here," Reggie raised his hands as Trip now pointed the gun at him. Reggie's heart began to beat fast and Maylene nearly screamed, but Trip covered her mouth.

"Shut up, bitch!" He spat, narrowing his eyes at Reggie again. "Your brother stole from me. He took my money and he took my gun. Where the fuck is he?"

"I don't know," Reggie lied, slowly approaching him with his hands raised. He couldn't just tell Trip where Paul is, especially since Trip has a gun.

"If you don't tell me where the fuck he is, I _will _kill her."

Frightened tears began to form in Maylene's eyes and she looked at Reggie as Reggie looked back at her and then looked at Trip with fear in his eyes.

"Tell me!" Trip demanded, pressing the gun harder at the side of her head.

"H-he went to Prom," Maylene whispered, struggling with her words.

Trip turned his head to look at her, laughing at that comment.

"Please don't kill me…" She begged, tears now rushing down her face.

"And where the fuck is that at?" He demanded.

"It's at Grand Hyatt." Reggie answered, causing Trip to look back at him.

"If you're fucking lying to me, I swear I will kill the both of you."

"We're telling the truth," Maylene trembled. "I promise you we're not lying, I swear…"

Trip glared even harder at Reggie and soon let go of Maylene roughly, causing her to rush towards Reggie's side.

He pointed a finger at Reggie, hardening his eyes on him. "Your brother is in some deep shit. He don't know who the fuck he's messing with."

With that being said, Trip left in anger, the gun still in his hand.

Maylene felt her heart beating hard inside her body and she slowly looked over at Reggie.

Reggie quickly went to go get his stuff after hearing those words.

Paul is in deep danger and he had to do something about it.

"We need to go get Paul. _NOW." _He demanded.

* * *

Prom was supposed to be a fun and wonderful night, but Dawn wasn't exactly having much fun. Her mind kept on wandering off to Paul and she frowned every time she thought of him.

As a slow song began playing, she noticed as couples soon got together on the dance floor and started transitioning from fast dancing to slow dancing.

She let her eyes fall on all of the couples that were now beginning to slow dance and she frowned again, the only person on her mind being Paul. She found herself wishing Paul was there that night, she was wishing that she could be dancing with him right now with everyone else.

Dawn licked her lips and turned her head to her phone.

She was sitting at one of blood red tables by herself while May went off to dance with Drew for a little while.

"_Some dreams are in the night time and some seem like yesterday, but leaves turn brown and fade. Ships sail away. You long to say a thousand words, but seasons change."_

She kept staring at Paul's name, tempted to call him or text him, but she wasn't even sure if she was prepared to speak to him yet, especially after how much he hurt her.

Dawn was beginning to feel overwhelmed with sadness as she stared hard at her phone. She felt a hand land on her shoulder and she turned her head to see whose hand it belonged to. When she saw it was just Ash, he smiled at her.

"Are you alright, Dawn?" he wondered.

The Blue Diamond stared at him for just a short moment and then narrowed her eyes back at her phone again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel lonely, that's all."

Ash sighed and took a seat next to her. "You know, you didn't have to be so rude to Giselle… she's been through a lot."

Dawn rolled her eyes and pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, well so have I." she let out a low sigh and looked at her phone again.

"_It feels like it's forever. No reason for emptiness. But time just runs away, no more day by day. You dream again it seems in vain when seasons change."_

Ash frowned slightly as he watched her look through her phone. She kept her eyes on her phone, deciding to not say anything else and Ash sighed again, letting his eyes narrow at the people dancing.

"_I want you. I want to feel you by my side. I need you. Don't you know I need you, baby?"_

Already, Paul could hear the music playing from the inside of the ballroom and he smiled hard as he gripped the bouquet of roses tightly in his hands. He placed the box which consisted of the engagement ring and the promise ring in between the roses, so that way she'll be able to find them herself.

Tonight, he was determined to win her back and if he had to do the ultimate choice, like propose to her in front of all those people, then that was a chance he was willing to take.

Paul smiled once more and began walking up the steps to the gigantic ballroom.

"_Seasons change, feelings change. It's been so long since I found you, yet it seems like yesterday."_

Ash looked over at Dawn who was still looking at her phone and he sighed heavily, deciding to get up and turned to face her.

Prom was supposed to be about having fun, not about being miserable and not having a good time. He let his hand out for her to take, causing her to tear her eyes off her phone and look at him. "Dance with me," he ordered.

A confused look soon fell on her face and Ash sighed again. "Come on, Dawn. You're not going to sit there all night and not have a good time. So I'm asking you to dance with me."

Dawn blinked and slowly let her eyes narrow at the crowd again and then let her eyes move back to him. She licked her lips slowly and just sighed, letting her hand slip into his.

As she got up, Ash guided her to the dance floor, finding an empty space to dance in. When he did, he turned around to face her. Dawn stood in front of him, her eyes never leaving his. Ash grabbed her left hand up and raised it up by their face; he placed his other hand along her waist.

Dawn pursed her lips and placed her right hand on his shoulder for support.

When she made eye contact with him, she felt his hand move down to her lower back, her body now being closer to his as they now began to slow dance.

"_Seasons change, people change. I'll sacrifice tomorrow just to have you here today."_

For a moment, she let her mind get lost into the music and she stared at Ash as they danced.

"How come you're not dancing with Giselle?" Dawn wondered.

"She's catching up with some old friends," he told her. "Besides, I wanted to dance with you since you look so lonely."

Dawn frowned slightly as they continued to slow dance.

"You wish Paul was here, don't you?"

Dawn stared into Ash's eyes and her frown deepened as they continued to slow dance. "Yeah…" she trailed off. "I love him, but I really wish he didn't hurt me…"

Ash stared at Dawn and he continued to dance with her. "It's too bad that he did." He commented. "You're really beautiful, Dawn, I don't understand why he would hurt you."

A small smile formed on her face when he said that. "It's my fault he did what he did anyway…"

"You didn't do anything wrong." Ash disagreed.

Dawn sighed again and looked into Ash's eyes. "Paul was so obsessed with me possibly having feelings for you Ash. That's exactly why he did what he did, to get back at me…"

"But you don't have feelings for me Dawn," he told her.

The Blue Diamond blinked, not sure with that comment. Her frown deepened and she looked down, though they were still slow dancing to the song.

"_Forever seems so far away. There's time for love and for play. You dream about today, feeling slips away. The winds that blow they go away and seasons change."_

The basketball player raised his eyebrow when she didn't say anything. "Right?"

Dawn bit down on her bottom lip, flashbacks occurring into her head.

"_I can't handle you guys being fucking friends." Paul said in disgust. "I don't know if you realize this, but every time you're around him, I feel like your emotions are more real towards him and it really pisses me the fuck off—"_

"_Seriously? You _still_ think I have feelings for him? Come on now," She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm dating you! Not him! I've been with you for a long time! I'm crazy in love with you! I've fucking slept with you!"_

"_That doesn't prove _shit_." He snapped. "You wish it were him, instead of me. It's always been Ash and you know it. He's always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things. He's the one that you wish you were with, not me."_

Dawn shook her head as she did her best to focus on Ash's shoulder. Why was Ash asking these things? Yeah, she already kissed Ash once just to get back at Paul, but now she wasn't so sure of how she felt about that kiss.

Paul was right. Ash has always been the good guy and he does say all the right things.

Just now she was beginning to realize that maybe she did have feelings for Ash, feelings she wasn't even sure of until now.

The Blue Diamond slowly looked up at Ash and Ash raised his eyebrow, noticing that she looked like she was about to cry.

"_I want you, don't hide your feelings from inside."_

That smile remained on Paul's face as he now walked inside of the ballroom, immediately seeing everyone gathered together slow dancing.

He looked through the crowd with his eyes in search for Dawn.

"_I need you, I've got to have your love now, baby."_

Dawn shook her head and immediately she pressed her lips onto Ash's without thinking.

"_Seasons change, feelings change."_

Paul continued to search through the crowd with his eyes.

Once he found her, his smile began to minimize when he saw Dawn and what she was doing. All of a sudden that happiness he felt in his heart vanished as his smile fell into a firm line.

Paul's eyebrows furrowed together, trying to see for himself who was the person she was kissing and once he saw her pull away, he immediately recognized the guy as Ash. And just by seeing this, he instantly felt betrayed.

He felt his heart twisting in pain at the sight and he dropped the bouquet of roses from his hand along with the ring box to the floor.

Just a couple weeks ago, Ash told him to start having trust in Dawn and let go of his insecurities, but now Paul sees him kissing her. Paul was actually starting to like Ash after having a serious conversation with him about Dawn, but now he felt foolish. How foolish of him to think that maybe Ash was right and Dawn never cared about Ash as more than a friend. How foolish of him to think that maybe Ash didn't care about her as more than a friend. But after seeing this, this just proved to him how much of a hypocrite Ash is.

Paul felt so angry and so betrayed. He should've listened to his instincts from the start. No, he wasn't insecure. He was right all along. Dawn wanted Ash from the very beginning and Paul should've left her a long time ago.

All this time he tried to make her happy, he tried to become a better person just for _her_, but it was pointless.

She decided what she wanted and she chose Ash.

Paul closed his mouth shut and turned to leave, never looking back.

"_Seasons change, people change."_

"Dawn," Ash said in surprise, holding her by the shoulders. "Why did you do that?"

"I just… I don't know." She frowned as tears began to fall from her eyes.

Ash pulled back, dropping his hands to his sides. "I'm flattered, but…" he frowned again, "I'm not Paul."

"I'm so confused," she admitted as tears began to leave her eyes uncontrollably. "You're so sweet to me Ash and you're always there for me when I'm in pain. I can't help that you somehow make me feel better, I just…" she shook her head again and Ash watched as she broke down, frowning.

"I-I'm sorry, I have to sit down," she shook her head and brushed past him, deciding to sit back down at the table she was sitting at before she got up to dance with Ash.

Yes, she was most definitely confused with Ash and her feelings, but Paul kept coming up inside her head.

Maybe Paul was right about her feelings for Ash, but he was wrong about the simple fact that she preferred Ash over him.

Ash may be a sweet guy and all and treat her like angel, but Paul was the guy she fell in love with. Paul is the guy she sees herself with in the future, not Ash.

"_I want you, I want to feel you by my side."_

Dawn wiped the tears from her face as she took a moment to look at herself from her small mirror. After fixing her face up, she placed the small mirror inside her purse and got up, now walking towards the entrance of the ballroom.

She was going to call Paul and win him back. She needed him back. She _loved _him too much.

Dawn stopped in front of a bouquet of blue roses on the floor along with a small box that seemed to look like a ring box. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she leaned down to retrieve the bouquet of roses along with the box. She took a moment to see the small note that was attached to the bouquet of roses, wondering who had dropped them and who it was from.

Her heart nearly stopped when saw what it said.

_I love you. – Paul_

Dawn blinked. Paul had came?

She took a moment to look around again, trying to find a familiar shade of lavender hair, but he was nowhere to be found. She frowned and turned her eyes to the note again.

So if he came, why did he leave the roses and the box on the floor?

Dawn tucked the bouquet of roses beneath her arm and opened the box, a bit curious about what was inside.

When she opened it, she gasped in pure shock.

"_Seasons change, feelings change."_

What she saw in front of her was a very beautiful rose gold ring and she could tell it was a two set ring. She picked up the big ring on top with the three diamond stones and she felt her heart skip a beat as she analyzed it. Was it an engagement ring?

Her eyes squinted when she noticed there were words on the inside of that ring.

_I'll love you forever._

Dawn could feel tears of joy forming in her eyes as she visualized it for a little longer. She placed the ring back inside the slot and picked up the one that was underneath, assuming that ring must have represented something else.

She squinted her eyes again when she noticed there were also words engraved on that ring too.

_No need to worry, I'll always be here._

So Paul _did _came.

He was going to propose to her!?

Dawn nearly felt her heart breaking at the sight before her.

If he was here and she found these on the floor then he must have witnessed…

Dawn's eyes slightly widened as she remembered the kiss she just shared with Ash.

Did he see her kiss Ash?

She stared at the ring and placed it underneath the big one, staring hard at it.

The roses and the box with the ring inside was just sitting on the floor, so he must have witnessed it. He wouldn't leave the roses and a very expensive ring on the floor just lying there for no reason.

Dawn closed the box tightly and soon ran out of the ballroom with the box and the roses in her hands.

* * *

For the first time ever, Paul felt like his heart was ripped right out of his chest.

How could she do this to him? He always been so good to her and treated her like she was a queen.

Paul felt tears forming in his eyes and he began pacing, thinking too hard and clenching his fists very tightly.

He spent all this time trying to convince himself that maybe, just maybe she might love him and not Ash.

"_I love you Paul and nothing is going to change that."_

Frustrated, he ran a hand through his hair angrily and kicked at a wall, not caring about the marks he had created in his dress shoes.

"_Always and forever…"_

Always and forever my ass.

He wanted to believe that she might love him, but she just kept proving him wrong constantly.

He wasn't crazy. Ash had always been a threat to him and that was the exact reason why. Dawn loved him and not _Paul. _That's the reason why Paul hates him so much just because the simple fact that he can never get Dawn to love him like the way she loves Ash.

Paul found himself thinking of that one night at the cabin.

"_Just make love to me."_

He remembered her begging for him to make love to her, as if she really trusted him with her virginity, as if she really loved him enough to even give him that part of her life.

But Paul was a fool to think that might have meant something to her.

Just like any other girl, they always lose their virginity and then move on to the next guy.

"_I loved you, you made me. Hate me, you gave me hate see? It saved me and these tears are deadly!"_

Paul felt his head spinning and when he heard his phone ringing from his pants, he shoved his hand inside his pocket and retrieved his phone.

His anger only got worse when he noticed it was Dawn that was calling.

_She must have found my little surprise, _he thought, remembering he left the roses and the engagement ring on the floor before he left the ballroom.

He was currently in front of one of the corner stores, just five buildings down from Grand Hyatt.

Shaking his head, he pressed answer and brought the phone up to his ear.

"_You feel that? I rip back. Every time you tried to steal that. You feel bad? You feel sad? I'm sorry, hell no, fuck that!"_

"Paul?" she spoke, sounding obviously concerned and also nervous.

"I'm assuming you found my little gift?" he forced a smile as he stared at the building in front of him. He was gripping his phone so hard that he felt like he was close to breaking it, that's how angry he was.

Dawn stood outside in front of Grand Hyatt, looking around to see if Paul was around, but he was nowhere to be found. She frowned again, knowing he was being sarcastic with that comment. "Yeah, I saw the roses and the rings… I loved it." She forced a smile and then frowned again, knowing that he witnessed the kiss she shared with Ash. "You were going to propose?"

Paul hardened his eyes as he stared at the building in front of him. "You don't deserve to get fucking proposed to." He said angrily.

Dawn could feel how angry he was by the sound of his voice. She knew his heart was breaking. "I know," she breathed, frowning again. "But I can explain—"

"You ripped my _HEART OUT." _He screamed.

The Blue Diamond felt her lips trembling at the sound of that, feeling tears forming in her eyes. He sounded so hurt and so broken. She was beginning to believe that she really did rip his heart out.

"_It was my heart, it was my life, it was my start, it was your knife!"_

Tears slowly left her eyes and Paul could hear that she was sobbing and he chuckled lightly, though he was still suffering from pain. He felt like she was driving a knife through his heart.

"I didn't mean to kiss Ash, I don't know what I was thinking…" she trailed off.

"Bullshit," he retorted back. "You knew what the fuck you was thinking. You _knew _what you wanted all along!"

Dawn closed her mouth shut and stared at the taxi's passing by on the street as she listened to Paul's powerful words.

"What, so you think it's okay to fucking use me whenever the fuck you want?" He gripped his phone even tighter. He was sure that if he gripped it even more, it would eventually break. "I should've listened to my instincts all along. Fucking Blue Diamonds…" he trailed off, shaking his head again. "All the fucking same."

Dawn felt those words hitting her heart, tears still falling from her eyes. "I never used you Paul! I love you, I swear I do! I never betrayed you!"

"_LIAR!" _he screamed through the phone again.

Her heart was beating fast against her ribcage. She wasn't sure if anything she says will make anything better. "That kiss with Ash meant nothing, I swear—"

Paul forced a laughter, causing her to stop her sentence.

Her mouth fell into a firm line when she listened to his forced laugh through the phone.

"_This strife, it dies. This life and these lies and these lungs have sung this song for too long."_

"You're such a fucking liar." He chuckled. "It's hilarious, actually." He shook his head again, letting his hand rest on the wall next to him.

Dawn blinked. "I'm sorry, Paul…" she whispered, more tears leaving her eyes.

Paul felt his eyes darken even more at the sound of those words. "You made a promise remember? That you would never leave me."

"I know…" she trailed off, feeling like complete shit. "And I didn't mean to break that promise. But I just needed space… I didn't think it would lead down to this…"

Paul shook his head again. "You knew what was coming," he growled. "You had it all planned out. Join the dance team and take advantage of me just like your little dance friends."

"I never took advantage of you!" she denied. "I was _never _like them, you know that!"

Paul chuckled lightly. "Foolish of me to think that maybe all Blue Diamonds aren't the same. But you proved me wrong, you turned out to be e_xactly _like them."

Dawn felt like her own heart was being ripped out of her chest. Why was he saying those things to her? She knew what she did with Ash was wrong, but she never had sex with him!

"It was just a fucking kiss!" She screamed, trying to get through to him over the phone. "I didn't fucking have sex with him just like how you did with Giselle!"

"I fucking _loved _you!" he shouted. Dawn could hear the pain in his voice when he heard those words.

"Yeah, I admit that I never exactly trusted you, but that was because you gave me no choice. You kept proving each and every day how much your feelings for Ash are real—"

"But he isn't you!" She screamed. "He isn't the one that I love!"

"_And it's true, I hurt too. Remember, I loved you!"_

Reggie felt panic rising in his chest as he called Paul almost five times already and still he wasn't picking up. "Fucking hell, pick up Paul!" he shouted, running down the sidewalk with Maylene.

He was getting closer and closer to Grand Hyatt, and he was desperately hoping that he would get to Paul before Trip does.

_"And I've lost it all, fell today, it's all the same. I'm sorry, oh. I'm sorry, no."_

Paul wanted to say more, but he heard multiple beeps on the other side of the phone and pulled his phone away from his ear, seeing that Reggie was calling him.

He raised his eyebrow. What was Reggie calling him for?

"Hold on," Paul said, sounding more rude than plain as he clicked answer to Reggie's call. He brought the phone up to his ear. "What?" he said rather rudely.

"Paul, I need you to get the fuck out of Grand Hyatt, right now!" Reggie ordered, sounding as if he was in panic.

Paul raised his eyebrow, wondering why his brother sounding so scared of something. "Why?" he questioned.

"Trip is on his way there and he has a gun!"

Paul blinked at the sound of that last word.

Instantly, he remembered breaking in Trip's tobacco store.

_Paul knew exactly where Trip hid the gun at, he always hid it in between the small bongs that was right by the cashier. The cashier machine was just on top of the glass counter which consisted of lots of bongs and a variety of weed bowls inside._

_Carefully, he brought the baseball up to the glass and immediately slammed it against the glass, breaking it completely, listening as the glass pieces shattered and the bang of cashier falling onto the glass bongs and bowls. His eyes instantly fell on a black pistol and he picked it up, bringing it up to his face as he examined it carefully._

_The pistol looked brand new, so he assumed it must have been loaded. Paul took a moment to check if there was bullets inside and he soon noticed there was more than enough._

_Paul breathed into his ski mask, now becoming slightly irritated about how hot he was feeling with it on. He shook his head and placed the gun inside his pocket._

_He was about to leave and go, but his eyes fell on the cashier machine and a thought soon passed in his head._

_Paul stared at the machine for a moment longer and shook his head. It took him a minute to pop it open and he grabbed all of the money that was inside, shoving it all inside his pockets. After taking the money and the gun, Paul ran outside and quickly found his way back inside his car._

"I left the Prom. I'm not there." He mumbled, now looking around to see if Trip's car was anywhere around.

"Where are you then?"

"I'm in front of one of the corner stores just five blocks down."

"Well stay there! I'm on my way to get you!"

"Alright," Paul licked his lips and pulled his phone down from his ear, going back to the other line where he was speaking to Dawn.

"_And I've been abused, I feel so used because of you. I'm sorry, oh. I'm sorry, no."_

"Paul?" he heard her speak and Paul still felt the anger and betrayal he had for her in his heart.

He let his thoughts drift from Trip immediately and focused on Dawn again. "Is there anything else you want to do to me?" he asked. "You already ripped my heart out, so are you going to run away with it now?"

"That's not what I meant to do," she cried.

"Oh no, that's exactly what you meant to do." Paul pointed out.

"_I wish I could have quit you, I wish I never missed you and told you that I loved you every time I fucked you!"_

"Paul, why are you doing this?" She whispered in pain. "I thought we were that couple that fights through it all. I thought we could handle anything that comes our way."

"Yeah, well I can't." He decided, feeling his heart aching in pain still. "I opened up a part of me to you, something I never did with anyone and this is how you repay me?"

"_The future that we both drew and all the shit we've been through. Obsessed with the thought of you, the pain just grew and grew!"_

"I didn't mean to hurt you." More tears rushed down her face as she stared at the street in front of her. Her view was a complete blur.

"I hate you," he said angrily.

"You don't mean that…"

"Oh, I do." Paul shook his head, staring hard at the building in front of him again. "You're just another worthless girl to me."

"But, Paul—"

"NO!" he growled.

"_How could you do this to me? Look at what I made for you! It never was enough and the world is what I gave you!"_

"You don't get to feel sad, I do." He demanded.

"But I love you." She said, her words shaking.

"You don't know what love is," he shook his head.

"_I used to be love-struck, now I'm just fucked up! Pull up my sleeve and see the pattern of my cuts!"_

"Yes I do," she argued. "I fell in love with you, Paul. You made me realize what love is like, not Ash."

"Bullshit,"

He shook his head again, believing otherwise.

All this time he spent loving her was pointless because she could never love him like the way she loved Ash.

"_And I've lost it all, fell today, it's all the same. I'm sorry, oh, I'm sorry, no."_

"Why don't you believe me?" She asked, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Because you're a compulsive liar!" He shouted again.

"_And I've been abused, I feel so used because of you. I'm sorry, oh, I'm sorry, no."_

"But I never lied about loving you, Paul! I always loved you, I will always love you! You're the one I want to be with, not Ash!"

"Just quit lying to yourself…" He trailed off, feeling tears filling in his eyes.

"But, I'm not lying…"

"Believe whatever you want. I'm not sticking around putting up with your bullshit anymore." He decided.

"_Seems like all we had is over now, you left to rest. And your tears are dried up now, you just lay without a sound."_

He wanted to hang up, but the sound of her voice stopped him from doing so.

"You're letting me go?" She sounded like she was surprised. "After everything we've been through?"

"I can't take it anymore," he groaned.

"_Seems like all we had is over now, you left to rest. And my fears are over now, I can leave with my head down."_

"No," she said.

Paul found himself wishing he could see how she looked. For some reason, the pain inside her voice made him want to stay and be with her.

"No," she said again. "You can't do this to me, Paul, you just can't…"

"_And I've lost it all, fell today, it's all the same. I'm sorry, oh, I'm sorry, no."_

Paul remained silent and stared hard at the street in front of him. "I love you," he said finally, and Dawn could feel a small light in her heart by the sound of those words. "I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."

"_And I've been abused, I feel so used because of you. I'm sorry, oh, I'm sorry, no."_

Tears began to blur in his eyes and he blinked them back.

Suddenly, a loud sound occurred on the street and he turned his head toward the sound only to see a car heading his way.

Paul furrowed his eyebrows slightly, trying to get a look of who it might be. When he saw a head pop out of the passenger window and someone pulling out a gun, pointing it straight at him, Paul immediately recognized the face as Trip.

Before Paul could do anything, Trip pulled the trigger and the bullet flew very fast into the air.

_BOOM._

Paul fell back, the phone slipped from his hands as he fell straight to the ground along with a thick lake of blood leaving from the back of his head.

"_I used to be love-struck, now I'm just fucked up. (I'm sorry.)"_

The Blue Diamond stood there, her eyes widened as she heard the loud sound occur through the phone and into the air.

The bang of gun fire echoed throughout the street and Dawn could hear it from a mile away.

"_Pull up my sleeve and see the pattern of my cuts (I'm sorry.)"_

"Paul?"

There was no answer, the line immediately cut off.

Dawn pulled the phone down and stared at it, her mouth wide open.

"_I'm sorry, no."_

* * *

**A/N: Now I know all of you are going to kill me, but I already said that I am basing this story off the song by Hollywood Undead. **

**I just hope all of you aren't too angry, it is just fiction after all.**

**Songs used in this chapter: Red Light Special by TLC, Por Un Segundo by Aventura, Ayo Technology by 50 Cent ft. Justin Timberlake &amp; Timbaland, On the Run by Beyonce ft. Jay-Z, Think Like a Man by Jennifer Hudson ft. Ne-Yo &amp; Rick Ross, Put it On Me by Ja Rule ft. Lil' Mo &amp; Vita, Seasons Change by Expose, Black Dahlia by Hollywood Undead.**

**PLEASE leave reviews, let me know all your thoughts. I want to know every single one of them! Especially with everything that went down in this chapter.**


	24. White

**A/N: I believe I said once or twice that this story will end at chapter 24… and this chapter you guys are about to read is chapter 24, if you guys haven't noticed haha. I see I left a lot of you off guard with last chapter, but hey, I love leaving my readers in shock (: **

**I hope you all enjoy this last chapter! **

_**White **_**symbolizes love and hope.**

* * *

Horror flashed in her eyes and the first thing she did is run back straight into the building. Tears fell from her eyes and her heart was beating fast against her ribcage as she continued to run inside the building and make it inside the ballroom.

Various thoughts kept going through her head all at once.

What was that? Was that a gun shot? And how come it sounded so close by, especially while on the phone with Paul?

Dawn struggled to run through the building and once she made it into the ballroom, she stopped midway to find Ash through the crowd.

When she spotted Ash with Giselle, she shoved her way through the crowd, practically screaming at everyone who was in her way.

Her hand immediately grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him around. "Something happened to Paul!" She screamed, tears falling from her face. "Please help me, I think something happened to Paul!" she sobbed, her hand gripping his arm.

Ash and Giselle looked at the crying Blue Diamond in deep concern.

"Where is he?" Giselle asked, taken aback by Dawn's sudden reaction.

"I don't know, I heard a gun go off a few blocks down from here, but as soon as I heard it, the line cut off." She trembled, looking horrified in the face.

"We have to go find him," the brunette ordered, looking at Ash with a serious look.

Ash stared at Giselle and then looked over at Dawn. "Okay, let's go."

Dawn roughly let go of Ash's arm, accidentally scratching him along the way, but she didn't care though, she ran out of the ballroom along with Ash and Giselle following behind.

All she could think about is Paul and that gun going off.

In her heart, she desperately hoped he didn't get shot. She desperately hoped that his phone died and the gun going off had nothing to do with him.

As she was running, all she could hear was that gun going off in her head again.

_BOOM. _

It sounded so close by when she had heard it and she feared that maybe Paul was close by too.

When they made it outside, she struggled to get her heels off since her feet was hurting her.

To make matters worse, she listened as the sound of sirens played in the air and she looked up only to see an ambulance along with three police cars passing by.

She didn't stop to think; she grabbed her heels in her hands and began running on her bare feet. She had to follow the ambulance and police cars to wherever they're going; she just had to follow them, just to see who had been the person who had got shot.

She desperately hoped it wasn't Paul.

A moment later, Dawn paused in front of a familiar looking Mercedes Benz CLA 250, causing Giselle and Ash to stop at their tracks too.

Her heartbeat picked up.

They were literally right next to the ambulance and the police cars too.

"Why did you stop?" Giselle questioned, fear in her heart as well.

"That's Paul's car…" Dawn trailed off.

Shaking, she turned her head briefly toward the ambulance and the police cars and she instantly panicked when she saw medics place a body on the gurney.

Dawn didn't think, she ran towards the medics, curious about who was on the gurney. As she ran, she kept repeating inside her head: Please don't let it be Paul.

She stopped in front of the gurney and she couldn't believe what was right in front of her.

_Paul._

It only took a second for her to freak out at the sight before her. "Paul!" She shrieked. She painfully slammed her hand on one of the medics to get them out of the way.

A pair of hands held her back, trying to control her temper since she was screaming in fear.

All she saw was a small dark red hole evident on his forehead, blood seeping from it and from the back of his head. Paul's eyes were closed and he was lying there looking dead.

"PAUL!" She screamed again.

She felt people grabbing her, trying to calm her down, but all she could think about was the love of her life dying right before her.

"Oh my god," The brunette, Giselle gasped, covering her mouth with her palm as tears began to form in her eyes.

"PAUL!"

Dawn threw punches at the medics and the other people grabbing her. She just wanted to get to Paul and get to a hospital as soon as possible.

"PAUL!"

Why wasn't they letting her touch him?

"PAUL!" She sobbed uncontrollably.

"Are you guys going to take him to the hospital or what!?" A voice yelled in a loud demand. It sounded like Reggie, but Dawn was seeing everything in a blur, she was too scared and too confused to even notice that he was there.

She felt the medics pull her away just to put Paul in the back of the ambulance truck.

Dawn felt like her head was spinning. She couldn't believe what was happening right in front of her.

"PAUL!" She screamed again.

_Paul licked his bottom lip as he waited for her to turn over the last card._

"_The future…" She trailed off, grabbing another card and staring at the last card for a short moment before turning the card over._

_It showed a picture of a knight that had been killed across the floor with a horse over his body and a skeleton knight sitting on the horse. The picture's caption read 'death'._

_When Dawn saw that word, she slowly looked up at Paul, her mouth slightly dropped and her heart now beating faster. She wasn't the type to believe in tarot cards, but the simple fact that those cards she picked out determined the future of her relationship with Paul with something really bad, she wasn't sure how to react._

It was just a couple months ago they were playing tarot cards and just thinking about that last card she turned over, that last card that determined their future together, she found herself wishing that they had never played it.

The Blue Diamond sat there inside the truck, looking over at Paul.

"N-no need t-to worry Paul. Y-you're g-going to be o-okay…" she cracked. She kept trying to tell herself over and over again that everything was going to be fine, but that horrifying sight of that gunshot wound in his forehead literally had her thinking otherwise.

Tears were falling from her eyes uncontrollably as Reggie and Maylene sat on the opposite side of Paul, Maylene trying to comfort Reggie while Reggie cried silently to himself with his head down.

Dawn chewed on her bottom lip nervously as she remembered something.

"_Go to hell!" She screamed, making it sound like more of a demand._

_Paul slowly turned his face to look at her. She could see that huge red mark forming on the side of his face, but she didn't care. _

"_I never want to see your face again." She whispered. "I hope you _die,_"_

I hope you die…

Dawn looked at Paul again, tears still falling from her face.

_Did I kill Paul?_ She wondered. _Was this my doing?_

Dawn frowned again, now burying her head into her knees as she sat there on the floor waiting to be at the hospital already.

In her heart, she desperately hoped that maybe, just maybe he could survive this, that maybe not all bullets to the head could kill a person instantly.

He _had _to be okay. He just had to.

The rest of the ride was a huge blur and she felt like she was inside that truck for hours.

As soon as they made it inside of the hospital, they placed Paul inside of one of the hospital rooms and began working on him.

Dawn stood outside of the room, waiting for the doctors to take care of him.

Reggie and Maylene were there and so was Ash and Giselle.

As Dawn stood outside of Paul's room, she continued to stare in deep thought, hoping that he would be alive and well.

Yeah, it was most likely impossible to survive a bullet to the head, but she was remaining hopeful. Paul is the only person she knew that was so strong and never let anything bring him down. So how in the world could he go down with a small bullet to the head?

Her hands clenched tightly at her sides as she continued to stare through the window.

"I told him to be careful," Reggie said, shaking his head as tears fell from his eyes.

Dawn kept her eyes on the window as she listened to Reggie.

"It's not your fault," Maylene frowned, trying to comfort him.

"I didn't think he would be so stupid and steal from him, you know? I thought Paul was better than that."

Dawn blinked, raising her eyebrow. She slowly looked over at Reggie, a bit confused about what he was talking about.

Steal? Steal from who?

"He's going to be okay, I know he is…" Maylene continued, trying to say anything to make the moment better. But Dawn knew in her heart that maybe Paul really isn't going to be okay.

"Trip is going to fucking pay for this, I swear he is."

Trip? Who the hell is Trip?

Dawn sucked in a nervous breath and slowly let her eyes narrow at the window again.

Could this Trip guy possibly be the person behind this?

"Dawn?" Ash whispered, standing right behind her and leaning on a wall with an arm around Giselle.

Dawn remained quiet. She didn't bother to speak. She didn't even want to speak to Ash, as a matter of fact.

If it wasn't for her being stupid and kissing him, then maybe, Paul would've never got shot and maybe he would've been okay.

Dawn stared at the heart monitor from the window, seeing a straight line with no sign of changing into zig zags which signals a heartbeat. But just by looking at it, she already knew that she lost Paul.

A moment later, one of the nurses walked out of the room and stood before Dawn. Reggie and Maylene stood by Dawn's side, waiting for the news from the nurse, but Dawn already knew what the nurse was going to say.

"I'm sorry to say such terrible news, but that wound was very fatal and there was no sign of a heartbeat. I'm so sorry for your loss." The nurse frowned.

Dawn shook her head, trying to fight back the tears that were trying to pour from her eyes.

It only took a few seconds for Reggie to break down into sobs, along with Giselle, Maylene, and even Ash.

Dawn shook her head though.

Paul dead? This had to be some sort of dream, some sort of nightmare or something.

There's no way in hell that he could be dead. She just couldn't believe it.

"Can I see him?" She blurted out, not thinking.

The nurse looked at the girl and then frowned again. She nodded her head. "Sure,"

Dawn brushed past the nurse and walked inside of the room.

The sight before her made her heart hurt and she stood next to him, staring down at him with his eyes closed and his forehead covered, though blood was still seeping.

Just a couple days ago, she told him that she hoped that he would die and then all of a sudden he does. Like it all happened so fast and so sudden. She just couldn't believe that the worst happened. The worst of all…

Dawn chewed on her bottom lip hard as tears now poured from her eyes. "Paul…" she cracked.

A part of her felt like his death was her fault.

They played the tarot cards and their future determined death.

And then she told him to die, as if she was responsible for his death.

"Paul," she choked out again.

All she got was silence in response.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, still crying to herself.

If only she hadn't kissed Ash, if only she hadn't made such a stupid move, then maybe Paul would be alive.

As she stared down at him, she felt her heart twist in pain.

He was really dead. He was really gone for good.

"Paul." She choked out again.

She felt so horrible and so broken and she wasn't even sure of how she was going to live without him.

How can she live without Paul? He was supposed to live! They was supposed to get married and have a family together!

How can one little bullet suck the life out of him so quickly just like that?

"_I love you,"_

Paul.

"_I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."_

She remembered his last words like it was just a second ago. And then all of a sudden, fear came at her heart again.

_BOOM._

It all happened so fast, way too fast for her to comprehend.

Why would anyone want to kill Paul? What could Paul possibly do to make someone want to kill him?

"How could you leave me like this?" She whispered, a tear rolling down her face.

Dawn already knew that her make up must have been all over the place. She knew that she must have looked like a ghost in the face with smeared mascara and eyeliner, but right now she really didn't give a damn about how she looked. All she really cared about was her Paul, her strong, unbreakable, Paul.

"I can't live without you," she cried, now holding onto his cold hand. She gasped by feeling how cold his hand was. His body temperature dropped so much and she knew that whenever someone dies, their body immediately gets cold. Dawn stared at him with fear in her eyes. She wasn't ready to accept the fact that he's dead.

She kept praying for him to open his eyes, to move, to speak, to do something.

A stream of tears poured down her cheeks as she continued to stare at him.

Her hope was dying pretty quickly, especially after feeling how cold he is.

"_I'm sorry to say such terrible news, but that wound was very fatal and there was no sign of a heartbeat. I'm so sorry for your loss."_

Dead…

After all this, after everything she has been through with him, she loses him forever.

Dawn pressed Paul's cold hand tightly, holding onto it as if her life depended on it.

"_Paul?" she spoke, sounding obviously concerned and also nervous._

"_I'm assuming you found my little gift?" he forced a smile as he stared at the building in front of him. He was gripping his phone so hard that he felt like he was close to breaking it, that's how angry he was._

_Dawn stood outside in front of Grand Hyatt, looking around to see if Paul was around, but he was nowhere to be found. She frowned again, knowing he was being sarcastic with that comment. "Yeah, I saw the roses and the rings… I loved it." She forced a smile and then frowned again, knowing that he witnessed the kiss she shared with Ash. "You were going to propose?"_

_Paul hardened his eyes as he stared at the building in front of him. "You don't deserve to get fucking proposed to." He said angrily._

_Dawn could feel how angry he was by the sound of his voice. She knew his heart was breaking. "I know," she breathed, frowning again. "But I can explain—"_

"_You ripped my HEART OUT." He screamed._

_The Blue Diamond felt her lips trembling at the sound of that, feeling tears forming in her eyes. He sounded so hurt and so broken. She was beginning to believe that she really did rip his heart out._

And to think that the last moment he even had with her was nothing but pain and betrayal. She broke his heart and he didn't even get to die a happy man.

Dawn closed her eyes as she held onto his cold hand, feeling like complete shit.

He truly believed she didn't love him and just by knowing that really, really made her heart ache even more. She loved him just as much as he loved her. But he always doubted her and always believed she loved Ash and not him.

It was crazy, really, how he would even think something like that. But then again, she couldn't blame him for reacting the way he did before… before the _accident._

Dawn slowly opened her eyes and then looked at Paul's face again.

She stared at it for a brief moment before saying, "I love you," in a choked whisper.

For a moment, she could've sworn she saw his eyebrow twitch, but she began to realize that it just had been her imagination. Dawn inhaled a shaky breath and slowly leaned down to press her lips on his now cold lips, her body shaking and tears still streaming down her face.

All this time, she dealt with him accusing her of loving Ash and what does she do? She instantly kisses Ash and screws everything up.

Dawn was beginning to believe that she may have been responsible for Paul's death.

If she never had kissed Ash, all of this could've been prevented.

As Dawn pulled back from Paul's lips and looked at him one last time, she just couldn't bare looking at him anymore. She felt that if she stood inside that room any longer that she would just go berserk and she might even consider on committing suicide just to be with him.

Letting out a shaky breath, Dawn somehow found a way to begin leaving out of the room and as soon as she exited, she brushed past her friends and mumbled, "I'm going back to Prom," and began walking down the hall to wherever the exit was.

Everything was going in slow motion as she walked back to Prom. She was holding her heels in one hand and her flowers along with the engagement ring box in the other hand while slowly walking back to the dance.

Her face was emotionless and her lips were pressed tightly into a firm line.

As she was walking back, she kept trying to let her mind wander off onto other things.

The wind kept blowing against her skin, moving her hair and everything. She tried to put her mind on anything else but Paul. But as she closed her hand tighter on her bouquet of flowers and ring box, the thought of him made its way back into her head and she tried her best to fight back the tears that wanted to pour from her eyes once again.

When Dawn made it back to Prom, she hadn't even noticed that Reggie, Maylene, and even Ash and Giselle decided to follow her on the way back.

Dawn kept a straight face as she slowly approached the steps to the building. She saw May sitting down on the steps with a frown on her face.

Ash had told May the news about Paul and May just knew that Dawn was going through so much and she needed to be there for Dawn.

As May got up, May noticed how much of a mess Dawn looked, she almost looked like zombie in the face with her make up smeared all over the place and all. May frowned even more. "I'm so sorry Dawn," she said in sympathy, pulling Dawn into a hug.

Dawn didn't bother on giving a hug back.

"I can't imagine what you're going through right now," May frowned, pulling back from the hug and looking Dawn in the face.

The Blue Diamond didn't bother on making eye contact with her. She moved her body down and took a seat on the steps. "I don't want to talk about it." She mumbled, bringing her heels and her flowers and the ring box to the floor.

As she sat there on the steps, placing her heels right under her feet, May took a seat right next to her.

Dawn slowly looked up at Ash and Giselle. Giselle was still crying in Ash's arms and Ash kept a sympathetic look on his face. She really wasn't in the mood to speak to him, but she also didn't want to be around any of Paul's things right now.

"Ash?" she said lowly.

Ash raised his eyebrow at her, his arm around Giselle. "Hm?"

Dawn grabbed the flowers and the ring box in her hand again. "Can you take these flowers and this ring home for me?"

"Sure," Ash rubbed Giselle's arm and pulled back from her as he went to retrieve the flowers and the box. When Dawn watched him retrieve the ring box, she thought for a moment.

"Wait," she said.

The basketball player looked at her.

"Give me the box," she mumbled.

Ash looked at the box and then slowly handed her the box. As Dawn took the box in her hand, she slowly opened it and looked at the diamond rose gold ring.

May gasped slightly at seeing what was inside. "Was he…?" she was at a loss for words. "Did he…?"

"He was going to," Dawn mumbled, staring at the rose gold ring. The ring was so beautiful that it took her breath away. With the three diamond stones on the big ring and the skinnier ring under it contained a variety of diamonds. By the looks of it, it must have been a promise ring attached to the one with the rock.

Dawn picked up both of the rings and visualized it briefly as she read the engraved texts on them.

_I'll love you forever. _

She nearly felt her heart jump out of her chest as she read that on the engagement ring. She licked her lips slowly and looked at the engraving on the promise ring.

_No need to worry, I'll always be here._

She almost felt tears rushing down her face again, but she blinked them back. Dawn didn't want to cry anymore.

"I did something stupid," she whispered as she shoved the box in Ash's hands, holding the rings in her right hand and staring down at them. "So he didn't propose…" she trailed off.

May frowned, feeling really bad for Dawn.

Ash frowned too. After hearing her say that, he knew that Paul must have witnessed her kissing him and maybe that was why Dawn didn't even want to speak to Ash after losing Paul forever.

He honestly wouldn't blame her if she didn't even want to speak to him again after tonight.

Dawn stared at the rings for a little longer and she brought them together, just like how it was placed inside the box when she opened it. As she got the two rings stacked together just like how it was displayed, she slowly placed the rings in her left hand on her left ring finger.

It took a lot for her to not end up crying as she left her hand out to look at how the rings looked on her finger. It looked so beautiful and she honestly believed that Paul was with her at that very moment.

"But if he did, I would've said yes." She mumbled, staring at the ring, now forcing a smile on her face.

That was the first time she has smiled since Paul's death.

May's frown deepened. And he was going to propose to her too.

Dawn dropped her hand to her lap and then looked up at the flowers Ash was holding and then looked up at him in the face.

He was staring at her with sympathy. But she felt anger rise in her body just by looking at him.

"Just go to my house and drop off the flowers and the box for me," she ordered, now narrowing her eyes towards the floor.

"Okay," Ash turned to leave to go and do as she wished, but Dawn's voice stopped him.

"And Ash?"

Ash slowly turned to look at her again.

"I also don't want to be friends anymore." She told him. "I think it's best for you to stay the hell out of my life."

May looked at Dawn in confusion at that comment and then slowly looked over at Ash.

Ash stared at Dawn for a little longer, taking in those words.

Truth be told, those words hit him really hard in the heart and it hurt him because he had been friends with Dawn for years.

He understood why she even decided this, especially after she kissed him. Ash knew that maybe Paul must have witnessed that kiss or maybe Dawn had told him about the kiss, Ash didn't know. But he knew that Dawn was feeling really guilty, especially now since Paul died and Ash knew she must have been feeling like she was responsible for Paul's death.

"I understand," he said finally, a hurt look playing on his face.

As he turned away, wrapping his arm around Giselle and began walking off, he was beginning to feel like he was also responsible for Paul's death.

Dawn blinked and then slowly looked over at Reggie and Maylene who were standing a couple feet away.

Reggie was staring off at one of the buildings, as if he was trying to calm himself down and think of something else while Maylene held his hand and kept looking at him in concern. She also kept looking at Dawn too.

The Blue Diamond instantly tore her eyes off of the pair and began to put on her heels again.

"Are you sure you want to be here?" May wondered. "I can walk you home."

"No," Dawn decided, looking over at May again and pausing with putting on her heels. "I don't want to go home," she said. "I want to be here, at prom. I want to dance, I want to have fun." She felt her lips trembling again as she slowly looked down at the floor again. "At least, I want to try…" she shook her head and returned to putting on her heels again.

May frowned again. She knew that Dawn was going to have a difficult time trying to take her mind off of Paul that night, but May was willing to help her try.

"Well let's have fun then," May said, trying to sound bright.

Dawn looked over at May after putting on her heels.

"But before we do, we have to stop by the ladies room so I can fix your make up. You look like a zombie right now," May chuckled lightly.

A small smile formed on Dawn's face and she laughed lightly.

The girls slowly got up and linked hands, May looked over at Reggie and Maylene in concern, wondering if they would like to come to. "Do you guys also want to come?"

Maylene looked at May and shook her head. "No. I'm going to take Reggie home, you guys go ahead."

May stared at the pink haired side kick for a little while longer and then looked at Reggie who looked so lost just like Dawn and she frowned again.

May turned to look at Dawn and began to walk up the steps with her and into the building.

* * *

The Blue Diamond sat in front of her mirror, just staring blankly at her dresser.

Today was the day of Paul's funeral service and it had only been a week since Paul's death.

Dawn stared hard at her dresser, already dressed up in all black. She was wearing a long sleeved black lace dress, the sleeves over her elbows and only reaching near her wrists, but not directly on them. The dress was all lace, but the sleeves showed her skin and the neck part of the dress was designed in curves, somewhat like a zig-zag design.

Dawn also had her hair put into a low bun with one black hair bun stick attached inside; she had hair parted on one side and she had her face done naturally, with light pink lip-stick on her lips and eyes done a light brown mixed with dark brown color, making it look like a smoky eye design with the eyeliner and mascara.

She did her make up as best as she could, trying to make herself look as if she was okay, but deep down inside she wasn't. Deep down inside, she felt dead and she felt lonely.

"Dawn?" Johanna, her mother called. "We have to be at the cemetery in a few minutes. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute," Dawn said loud enough for her mom to hear.

She licked her lips and looked at herself in the mirror once again, taking another looked at herself.

Today is Paul's funeral…

Dawn wasn't even sure if she was prepared to attend his service, she felt that if she even speaks a word to a group of his family members and friends, that she'll just break down and no one would be able to help her.

Tearing her eyes off of the mirror, she looked down at her engagement ring and promise ring she had just sitting down on her dresser.

_We could've been engaged. _She frowned as she thought this.

Dawn slowly picked up her rings and stared at them.

_We could've got married, we could've had a family, have kids and grow old together. _

She took another moment to read the engravings on each ring.

It was like he was still there with her, it was like he never left…

Dawn inhaled a breath and put the rings on her left ring finger, taking another moment to admire its beauty.

As she got up, she looked at herself in the mirror again.

_Hopefully, I can make it through this funeral… _She told herself.

For a moment, she truly believed she could, at least that's what she hoped for.

* * *

Walking into the cemetery was already one of the hardest things to do, but walking into Paul's funeral was another thing.

It was very ugly outside, the sky was all gray with darkish looking clouds as if it was going to rain. But just by looking at the sky, Dawn found herself relating to the weather in a way. She was feeling very… vulnerable and she also wasn't prepared for all the "I'm sorry for your loss" from several people she knew and didn't know.

As she walked into the service, she could feel a lot of eyes on her. She was holding her mother's hand while walking there. She needed someone's hand to hold onto and all she had was her mother at that moment. Her father had left her mother a long time ago for someone else, so all she had left was her mom. Till this day, it still bothered her to know that her father left her mother just because she was pregnant with _her_. She didn't understand why some guys leave the girl after they get them pregnant, to her, those kinds of guys are all assholes and deserve to live an unhappy life.

Dawn kept a straight face, a face that looked so broken. She tried her best to look like she was okay, but she wasn't. She _couldn't _be okay.

When she got there, she couldn't even count the many emotional hugs she received. She received a few hugs from some of her friends and the rest were just people she didn't even know. And she was getting tired of all the 'I'm sorry's she was getting that morning.

"Dawn?"

She sighed again, not ready to receive another hug and an "I'm sorry for your loss" from another person. As she turned around, she nearly felt tears well up in her eyes at the person in front of her.

The dark purpled haired man in front of her did his best to smile at her, as if he was okay.

"Reggie," she whispered in surprise, this time taking a moment to walk up to him and give him a big hug.

Since Paul's death, all she could feel is Paul there with her while hugging Reggie. And it pained her because Reggie is his brother, and just by looking at Reggie in the face, she could feel herself breaking down because she could see Paul in his face, the resemblance was there.

That hug felt like it lasted for a lifetime, but Dawn didn't let go, she continued to hug Reggie and she held onto him as if he was Paul.

"I'm glad you came," he said, his chin resting above her head.

They both were going through the same tragedy and they both knew exactly how they felt. Reggie continued to hug her tight; he too felt like Paul was there whenever he was around Dawn. The only reason why Reggie felt like Paul was there with him is because he knew how much Paul loved Dawn and he knew that she meant the world to him. Reggie even knew that Dawn still does, even though Paul is now in heaven.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her as the two pulled apart from the long hug.

"I'm not sure…" she answered truthfully, looking at him. "How about you?"

"Better, sort of. Maylene has been trying to help me get back on track."

"That's good, I suppose." Dawn whispered.

She took a moment to look at all the other guests.

May and Drew had attended the event, along with Gary and Leaf, and even Ash and Giselle. Dawn personally didn't want Ash or Giselle to be there though, especially Ash just because she still felt that she is the blame for Paul's death… after kissing Ash...

Misty was also there at the event and she was one of the first ones to give her a hug. Dawn was really happy to see her though. She hadn't seen her in such a long time since her break up with Ash.

Dawn wondered for just a moment if Misty was considering on getting back with Ash since she heard that Giselle wasn't looking for a relationship.

Her eyes suddenly fell on Paul's casket, noticing that it was closed. Suddenly, she felt her heart beating again and she almost felt like she was going to break at any second.

"So you chose a closed casket…" she murmured.

"Yeah… I couldn't stand seeing him in an open casket like that." Reggie told her. She understood exactly what he meant. She didn't want to see him dead in the casket, and she didn't want to see the bullet wound on his head either, so maybe a closed casket was a good idea after all.

"I want you to be careful Reggie…" she said, slowly looking him in the eye.

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Why?"

"I can't lose you either." She whispered. He could hear the pained emotion in her voice as she said that. "You're the only part of him that I have left."

Reggie frowned at her statement and then pulled her into a hug again, this time he didn't want to let go. Just being told that really made him tear up. "You won't lose me," he whispered. "I promise I'll always be safe and I'll always be here for you. After all, you are my sister in law."

A small smile formed on Dawn's lips as she heard Reggie say those last three words and she looked up at him, tears forming in her eyes now.

Reggie looked down at her and wiped the tears that were now leaving her eyes, careful not to ruin her make up. As he pulled away from the hug, he let out a light sigh. "We should take our seats. The memorial is about to begin in five minutes."

She nodded her head briefly, still taking in the words of being called Reggie's sister in law. It was like Reggie knew Paul wanted her to be his wife from the beginning, and just by knowing that really made her happy, but it also made her sad in a way.

She frowned again and followed Reggie to their reserved seats. She sat in between Reggie and May.

It only took a few minutes for everyone to get settled in their seats and for the memorial to start.

The weather was really cool and not so hot, but it was still pretty cloudy outside and Dawn wouldn't be surprised if it started to rain. Just sitting there in that funeral, she desperately hoped for it to rain, just so the memorial can get cancelled.

When the preacher walked onto the podium, he stared at all of the people in front of him and cleared his throat. "Greetings friends and family of Paul Sumpter." He said. "I first would like to say thank you all for attending this very emotional event, I believe it would've meant a lot to him."

While sitting in her seat, Dawn felt like she was going to scream at any moment. She felt like the preacher had been speaking on the podium for hours and hours, but it had only been a few minutes. With every word the preacher spoke, she felt tears forming in her eyes, but every time she blinked them back, trying her hardest not to cry.

"If anyone would like to say something about this young man, a story, or a speech, you may come forward now."

Dawn looked around briefly as she waited for somebody to stand up.

She felt Reggie get up from his seat immediately and she was surprised that he wanted to be the first one to say something. She assumed he might've wanted to speak last.

Slowly, Reggie made his way onto the podium as the preacher stepped aside for him. He looked over at the huge crowd and he opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed his mouth shut again.

Dawn stared at Reggie, knowing he was feeling so broken on the inside on just like her.

Reggie looked like he was about to break down any moment, but he remained strong and forced a smile at everyone who attended his brother's funeral.

"Hello everyone," he started. "Um, first I want to say that I appreciate that all of you decided to attend my brother's funeral. I assumed that rarely anyone would come because well… Paul wasn't exactly the type that had many people around to care about him."

Dawn looked down slightly at her lap as she listened to Reggie speak.

"Anyway," Reggie looked down at the podium. "Paul was the only family member I had left. Our parents passed away a long time ago in a car crash and it was just me and Paul. All we had was each other. I took care of Paul since he was seven years old and now thirteen years later, I lose him when he's only nineteen years old. It hurts because he was all I had left and now he's gone too."

Tears were forming in his eyes as he said this and he blinked them back, trying to be strong. "Um…" he looked towards the grass for a brief moment, trying to think of fun moments he had shared with Paul.

"Paul and I shared a lot of fun moments together. I think my favorite one is when he had set me up on a blind date. I can remember that like it was yesterday."

"_I'm starting to think that she's not real," Reggie mumbled as he took another look at the girl in his phone._

_The girl in his phone was a pretty blonde girl with green eyes and she was skinny, in a way that he liked. Her name was Nani. It was pronounced as Nah-nee. _

"_Nah, she's real." Paul took the phone out of Reggie's hands again and looked at the girl in the picture. "I wouldn't set you up with some catfish."_

"_I don't even know why I came here," Reggie sighed, now pacing around. "I don't even know this girl and I'm not even sure if I'm ready to meet her."_

"_Oh, but she sure seems ready to meet you," Paul handed the phone back to his brother, smirking at his brother. "Don't worry. It's going to be worth it. She's hot as fuck and anyway you really need to get laid. You've been slacking lately."_

"_I don't want to get laid Paul."_

"_You are a disgrace to the male kind." Paul pointed out._

"_What because I don't want to get laid?"_

"_Yeah." Paul nodded and then he grabbed Reggie's phone. "Look, she got some nice shaped tits that you can work with. And her ass, well… it may not be that big, but shit, at least it's something." He handed the phone back to him and laughed again. "Just meet her, get to know her for like a week or two, then smash her." Paul smiled. "Trust me, it's all worth it."_

_Reggie just stared at his brother with a blank look and then turned away. "I'm not taking your stupid advice. And aren't you dating Dawn?"_

"_What does this have to do with Dawn?"_

"_Because you're talking about smashing girls."_

_Paul made a face. "I was talking about you. But I been there, done that, and Dawn is different."_

"_And how is she different? You sure love getting a new girl all the time."_

"_I haven't dated anybody past a month and me and her are on our sixth month, so that should tell you something."_

"_Whatever," Reggie rolled his eyes._

_They were currently outside in front of the train station at 149__th__ street Grand Concourse, and Reggie had agreed to meet his mystery girl there for the first time. Paul dressed him up in a nice burgundy dress shirt and dark blue jeans, and Reggie kept his hair in his usual low ponytail._

"_Nani…" Reggie trailed off with a bored look, becoming frustrated. "What white girl is named Nani? Isn't that some sort of Spanish name?"_

"_I don't know." Paul shrugged, looking over at his brother again. "Didn't she say she was going to be here by 8?"_

_Reggie blinked and then looked at the time on his phone again, seeing that it was 7:55 pm. "Yeah,"_

_That smirk on Paul's face formed even higher. "Well, I'll leave you here to meet your new girlfriend."_

"_I'm not going to date her Paul,"_

"_Whatever you say," Paul chuckled lightly as he walked away from his older brother. He didn't walk too far away though, he walked a few feet away, enough to see Nani walk on by._

_Reggie sighed as Paul left him there waiting for his 'date'. Minutes were passing and he was beginning to wonder if she got scared and decided not to show up after all._

_Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned around briefly, but then he heard a voice call for him._

"_Reggie?"_

_It sounded like a female voice. As he turned around, he saw a girl that was short and petite and she had black hair. She also looked Asian in the face. He raised his eyebrow in confusion, wondering who this girl was and how she even knew his name in the first place. "Do I know you?"_

"_Actually yes," the girl said nervously, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. _

_Paul stood a few feet away from them, but he could still hear completely. His eyes was set on the Asian girl and he was curious about how she knew Reggie as well, but then something clicked in his mind right there._

"_I'm… Nani." the girl said nervously, looking up at him. "I know I'm not the girl that you were expecting, but I can explain—"_

_Reggie's eyes widened and suddenly he heard his younger brother burst out into laughter, causing the girl to stop her sentence. The girl whipped her head towards Paul as well as Reggie._

_Paul continued to laugh uncontrollably, not expecting that whatsoever. An Asian girl? So she really was a catfish. Paul continued to laugh, his eyes tearing up as he laughed. He did not expect that to happen at all. Reggie had been looking at him with a disappointed look and this made Paul laugh even more. _

Some of the people in the seats laughed as Reggie told his story and Reggie smiled, looking down at the podium again. "That's the reason why I'm against blind dates or online dating because wow… she was most definitely not the girl in the picture. And she wasn't white."

Dawn giggled lightly at that comment, a bit surprised to hear that story. She never knew Paul set his brother up on a blind date a long time ago, but she did find it funny on how the girl ended up being a fake.

As the laughter died down, Reggie looked at the people again. "So would anyone else like to say something?" he offered.

As he stood on the podium, he hoped for someone else to take his place.

Dawn sat there in her seat quietly and looked down again. She wasn't ready to go on that podium. As a matter of fact, she didn't want to go on that podium at all.

Maylene got up to speak and she shared her favorite memory with Paul. She mentioned that he had opened up to her one day and told her that Reggie deserves to be happy and he believed that she could make him happy. Hearing that memory made Dawn think how unpredictable Paul could be sometimes.

He was always so careless about things, but after hearing that story, she was surprised that he opened up to Maylene that way, but then again Dawn knew that Paul loved his brother a lot and he would want Reggie to be happy.

When Maylene left the podium, Drew got up to speak and his favorite memory happened to be when he and Paul jumped onto other buildings from the rooftops. Apparently that's something they always did together just for fun and Dawn always thought doing things like that was dangerous.

After Drew spoke, Dawn's mother got up to speak and Dawn was surprised to see her mother walk on that podium.

As Johanna stood on the podium, she looked at all of the people in front of her. She was crying no doubt, her eyes were all red as well as her nose.

Her mother's favorite memory with Paul was when he spoke to her about his feelings for Dawn.

"_There's something about your daughter that makes me feel alive and healthy. She brings out the good in me and I honestly can't stay away from her. Your daughter helped me get back on my feet and because of that I fell in love with her." Paul stated._

_Johanna stared at Paul in all seriousness, listening as he confessed to her about his feelings for her only child._

"_I see myself marrying her someday and I don't expect you to approve of me now, but I am hoping that you will approve of me soon." He said, hope filling in his eyes. "She's the only person I really, truly care about and I would go crazy if anything happened to her. I would lose it."_

Paul poured his heart out to her mom?

Dawn stared at her mother as if in shock and this time tears were leaving her eyes as she listened to her mother's words.

"It took me a while to believe that he might have those kind of feelings for my daughter, but when I looked into his eyes, I knew he loved her. I saw a lot of emotion in his eyes and that was enough to prove his feelings for my daughter." Johanna looked down at her hands, tears running down her cheeks. "He was a very good young man and I knew he would make my daughter so happy."

Paul made her feel all kinds of ways. He made her feel happy, he made her feel sad, and he made her feel angry. He made her go through many kinds of emotions and just by realizing that made her realize how much she loved him because of that.

No relationship is perfect, and he wasn't perfect. That's the main thing that drew her in in the first place. His imperfections drew her to him.

When her mother left the podium, Misty got up to speak.

Dawn watched her orange haired friend step onto the podium.

Misty stared at everyone in front of her and she even took a moment to look at Ash who had been sitting next to Giselle in the front. She hadn't known the brown haired girl at all, but she assumed she must have been his girlfriend or something.

Dawn stared at Misty and then slowly narrowed her eyes at Ash. She noticed Ash was looking at her with that same spark in his eyes that she always remembered seeing when Ash was around Misty. Just by looking at Ash and seeing how he was looking at Misty, she knew that he still loved her.

Misty immediately tore her eyes off of Ash and looked down at the podium, "Um," she cleared her throat.

Slowly, Dawn narrowed her eyes back on Misty. She could tell that Misty must have suspected something with Ash or she must have noticed Giselle since she looked a bit more disappointed than she already had when she got on the podium.

One thing that Dawn knew is that Misty always loved Ash and Ash always loved her, they just broke up because they lived so far away from each other and now that Misty came here to the funeral, Dawn believed that old feelings may be returning for the both of them.

"I'm Misty," she started, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. "I never really got the chance to know Paul personally, but I do know that he made Dawn really, really happy."

Dawn closed her lips together softly and she smiled partially at that comment.

"The way he makes her smile, the way he makes her laugh, the way he makes her feel like she's the only girl in the world and the way he can make her feel like everything about her is perfect…"

Tears were filling in Dawn's eyes again and she began to think on those words. Misty was describing exactly how Paul made her feel perfectly.

"I know what that feels like." Misty admitted, tears filling in her eyes as well. "Someone used to make me feel the same way…"

Dawn wiped the tears that were threatening to push through her eyes and she looked over at Ash again.

Ash had tears forming in his eyes too and he looked down, trying to blink them back. Just by seeing that, Dawn knew for a fact that Ash still loves her.

She inhaled a short breath and then slowly turned her head towards Misty again.

"And it sucks to lose someone like that. He was and he will always be her everything." Misty continued, still looking down at the podium. "I can't exactly say that I lost someone I was in love with the same way, but I can say that I did lose someone I loved, but he's still alive and well…" she slowly looked up and wiped that tears that were trying to leave her eyes. "I just want to say that even though Paul's gone, he will still love you Dawn." She was looking at Dawn now.

Dawn nearly felt herself about to break after hearing those last few words.

"He'll love you forever…"

Forever…

Dawn smiled, truly believing that. Warm tears ran down her cheeks as she listened to that last part Misty said.

"Thank you," Misty mumbled as she now got off the podium.

As Misty got off the podium, she made eye contact with Ash and Ash made eye contact with her. He frowned and then looked down at his lap.

When Misty returned to her seat, Giselle got up from her seat and made her way onto the podium.

Dawn tried to remain calm as Reggie held her hand, rubbing his thumb on her hand.

"Hello everyone," Giselle said nervously.

Dawn looked up and suddenly that emotion she felt inside of her slowly change to an angry emotion. Giselle got up to speak? Out of all people?

"Um… I never really had much friends, but Paul was considered one of my closest friends—"

"Yeah, a little_ too_ close." Dawn spat, loud enough for people to look at her.

Ash narrowed his eyes at Dawn and so did Misty.

Reggie looked over at Dawn too, a bit surprised with how quick she changed from sad to angry. Reggie knew Paul had been having sex with Giselle and been having her over at his place many times, so Reggie understood why Dawn got so mad in the first place.

Giselle blinked, not expecting that from Dawn. "Right…" She knew Dawn was still angry with her about what she did with Paul, but she didn't think that Dawn would suddenly do something like that.

"Well…" She cleared her throat and looked down at the podium. "My favorite memory would probably be when… I was feeling really sad and he told me that I can handle anything that comes my way."

_She looked up at him and then looked down at the floor, forcing a smile. "… Everyone hates me." She licked her lips slightly and continued to look down at the floor. "You should know why I am the way I am, everyone knows." She looked up at him._

"_Actually, I don't." Paul told her. _

_Giselle shrugged, letting her eyes fall on his shirt, still trying to avoid eye contact with him. Paul could see tears forming in her eyes and he was surprised to see this because he was always so used to her being strong and being able to take anything._

"_It doesn't matter now," she shook her head, moving her eyes to the floor again. "I just… I can't go back to who I was before. What's done is done…"_

_Paul stared at her for a short while._

_It was weird to him, seeing her weak like this._

_He placed his drink down on the counter and slowly walked up to her, her eyes still on the floor though._

_Giselle felt her breath hitch when she felt him touch the left side of her face. "Hey," he said lowly, causing her to look up at him slowly._

_She stared into his eyes, seeing that he was staring at her as if he actually cared. _

"_You're Giselle Ainsworth." He told her, as if to click something into her head._

_She just stared at him, a bit surprised by that comment._

"_Nothing can hurt you." He added._

"That was one of the first times he's ever been so nice to me…" Giselle smiled softly.

"So what, you guys fucked after?" Dawn said out loud, immediately causing people to gasp in shock.

"Dawn?" Reggie said in surprise, looking at her in complete shock.

Dawn made a face. "What? It's the truth, she _fucked _him more than once."

Giselle blinked, now beginning to become uncomfortable.

"Okay, but that isn't important right now—" Reggie commented, but Dawn cut him off.

"It isn't important? She doesn't deserve to say anything about him or even share a freaking favorite memory with him when all her favorite memories are of him fucking her!"

The brunette had a shocked look and she did her best not to break down in front of everyone, instead she cleared her throat and struggled to say her next words. "W-would anyone else like to say something?"

Ash got up on his feet and began to make his way towards the podium.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Ash, seeing him making his way towards the podium and she immediately lost it.

"_NO." _She said loudly, causing Ash to look at her.

"_How does it happen? The ship is a wreck."_

Dawn got up on her feet, making her way towards the podium angrily, though she was wearing black pumps on her feet. "I do not want you to speak at all." She said angrily.

"But—"

"You have nothing to say about Paul, so don't act like you do! You never shared a favorite memory with him because you two were never friends, he never liked you! As a matter of fact you are the reason why he is dead in the first place! If it wasn't for you making me kiss you, he would still be alive!"

Ash looked shocked in the face to hear those words. He knew Dawn was hurting badly, but he never expected her to react that way. Just by hearing her say those words to him really broke his heart and he was feeling really shitty.

"Dawn—" Reggie tried to grab Dawn, but Dawn snatched her arms out of his grip.

Everyone that was there was looking at Dawn like she was crazy, but she didn't care. How dare Giselle goes up there to speak for Paul and then Ash all of a sudden wants to speak too? They don't deserve to say anything at all!

"I want you two to leave!" She demanded.

"But Dawn—" Ash started.

"LEAVE!" She screamed.

Why did it feel like her whole world was crashing down before her? Maybe it was crashing down before her and just now she was realizing how her life is without Paul in it. And it had just been a week since his death.

Ash frowned deeply and slowly left the podium, looking over at Giselle as well.

Giselle had tears flowing from her eyes and the two left together away from the podium and from the memorial.

Misty sat there in her seat, watching as the two left and she frowned deeply, not understanding what was happening. She wanted to stay at the memorial a bit longer, but something was telling her to go with Ash and that girl, so she did what her instincts told her to do and got up, now following after them.

"Dawn," Reggie said again, trying to calm Dawn down. Even her mother was at her side, trying to calm her down.

"Dawn, relax honey, it's going to be okay—"

"Everyone literally keeps telling me that, but it's not!" She screamed, snatching her arms out of Reggie and her mother's grip. She got onto the podium and looked at everyone angrily. She had tears flowing from her eyes.

"Are you sure you want to speak now Ms. Berlitz?" the preacher asked, standing beside her in worry.

"Yes!" She shouted, taking a look at Paul's closed casket once more before looking down at the podium again.

Johanna and Reggie stood back, knowing that Dawn wanted to say something and there was no stopping her. She was holding in her pain for about a week, and it seemed as if she wanted to let out all that pain now.

Dawn originally wanted to attend Paul's funeral and be calm, but the odds most likely weren't in her favor that morning.

She hadn't known that Paul's death could make her feel like _this._

"_What do we do when it's out of control?"_

"Ahem," she cleared her throat, looking at everyone who attended the funeral. They were all looking at her with sympathetic faces and shocked faces, but she didn't care, she did her best to ignore the kinds of expressions everyone was giving her.

Dawn slowly inhaled a nervous breath and looked down at the podium again, trying to calm herself down.

She already made a scene and she didn't want to make anything worse than what it already was.

_Where is all this anger coming from?_

She looked over at Paul's casket again and suddenly she felt tears blurring her eyes once more.

_I don't think I can do this. _She thought. _I'm not ready to say goodbye…_

She inhaled another shaky breath and turned her attention onto the people before her again, now relaxing herself and blinking back those tears that was forming in her eyes.

"_We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (Here comes another.)"_

"Hi, um…" she paused and looked down again. "I'm not real comfortable talking in front of people, but… I loved Paul and… he was everything to me." Dawn looked up again, trying her best to control herself.

She still looked pretty in the face, her make up wasn't messed up from the night of prom, but she looked like she was in so much pain. It was heartbreaking to see her that way.

Reggie looked down.

He and Johanna were standing right beside Dawn.

Dawn began to fumble with her hands and she forced a smile on her face. "Paul wasn't always the kind of guy that does nice things… he was always so… selfish, cruel, arrogant, and very coldhearted at times. Sometimes he was so hard to understand, but I guess that's why I fell in love with him."

She looked down for a moment and wiped the tear that was about to fall from her eye.

It was so hard speaking about Paul, especially now that he's gone…

"I have a lot of favorite memories with Paul…" Dawn whispered and looked down. "I remember when we first met like it was yesterday…"

"_We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (It pulls me under.)"_

"_Wow, is that the tree I think it is?" Dawn gasped._

_She immediately walked over to the wall that had a large painting of a blue tree and she instantly recognized it as the tree that represented love, hope, happiness, and eternity. She personally always wanted a painting of that tree for herself and her mother always told her wonderful stories of that tree of her father and her mother._

"_This tree is so beautiful." She said, amazed with the tree, taking in each and every detail of it. "The tree of love, hope, happiness, and eternity. This tree is magical." She sighed in awe._

_Just then, she noticed a guy with lavender colored hair and dressed in all black, sitting right in front of the tree with Dr. Dre headphones over his ears. _

_She looked down at him and smiled. "Hi there."_

_He looked annoyed and he exhaled strong air out from his nose and then looked at her hard._

_His piercing onyx eyes burned into her blue ones and suddenly she felt nervous, but since he was sitting in front of the tree painting, she couldn't help but speak to him at least. She just wanted to be polite and she wanted to make new friends since she's new to this school._

_Dawn took a seat next to him and looked back at the tree again. "I know you may or may not really care, but I think that whomever sits here in front of this painting means that they carry the trees myth."_

_He stared at her as she said this, looking a bit confused in the face._

_She looked over at him and smiled. "It's wonderful, isn't it?" She said, while he just stared at her and grunted. "Well I'm Dawn, it's nice to meet you…?"_

"_Paul." He answered simply as she smiled after getting a word response out of him._

_Paul stared at her though and she was wondering why he was staring at her as if he were in deep thought about something. Growing slightly uncomfortable, she began to speak again._

"_Well I'll see you around Paul, sorry that I bored you." She nodded briefly as she got up from the bench and walked away._

_For some reason, he really made her nervous in a way and there was just something about his piercing onyx eyes that really made her feel some kind of way._

_She had to say he was really attractive looking in the face, but he also looked so… intimidating._

"He was very intimidating…" She laughed lightly, causing some people to laugh with her too. "He had always been intimidating, even when I was with him." She smiled again as she said this and laughed lightly again. "At first, he really couldn't stand me because he didn't like the fact that I was a Blue Diamond."

"_We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (Don't pull me under.)"_

_Dawn stared at the intimidating boy she met just two weeks ago sitting alone at his lunch table again. Why was he always alone and listening to music all the time? Didn't he have friends? She remembered seeing a green haired boy that was apparently named Drew sit with him sometimes, but most of the time Paul was always to himself._

_Her Blue Diamond friends were always saying that he was a goth kind of guy, emo and he likes to cut himself, they even said that he's a freak and is sort of crazy minded in the head. But Dawn kept thinking otherwise. She assumed her friends liked to pick on him just because he was different and misunderstood._

_Just by looking at him, she could tell he wasn't any of those things. She knew deep down he was probably a good guy and they were just judging him because of what he wears._

"_I'll be right back," she mumbled, getting up from her table._

_Her Blue Diamond friends looked at her for a moment and Dawn bluntly walked over to Paul's table, not caring about what her friends thought of her going to talk to him._

_She stood behind him, seeing that he was obviously into his music. Dawn didn't want to interrupt him from enjoying his music, but then again she wanted to speak to him, so she had to do something._

_A thought soon came into her mind and she smiled brightly. Boldly, she pulled his headphones down to his neck and he instantly got upset._

_She giggled lightly, taking a seat by him. "Sorry for interrupting your music," She just couldn't help herself._

_Paul hardened his eyes on her._

"_I notice you're always sitting here by yourself," she started, curious about him. "How come?"_

"_Because I fucking feel like it," he growled. She gave him a look of surprise. Was he really that annoyed that she interrupted him from listening to his music? It's really not that serious._

_Dawn frowned slightly, pulling a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "I was just—"_

"_Look, if you're here to mess with me, I don't have the time for it." He warned. Dawn looked at him, a bit confused with his assumption. She stared into his onyx eyes, feeling the unwanted tension forming between them._

"_I don't know what you're talking about…" she trailed, a bit frightened. Why was he so intimidating? And why was his voice so deep and scary?_

_Paul scoffed, tearing his eyes off of her. "I'm not stupid," he said. "Your fucking dance friends are always trying something new. I think I'm smart enough to know that once they get a new member on the team, obviously they're going to send that girl to me to try and fuck with my mind."_

"_They do that to you?" She sounded surprised and he raised his eyebrow._

"_You really didn't know that?" he looked at her, a bit surprised too. "I'm sure they've mentioned me to you plenty of times."_

_Dawn frowned slightly and Paul rolled his eyes, in no mood to continue talking with her._

"_Well, they always tell me that you're different and they're always saying some mean things about you."_

_Paul shrugged, tearing his eyes off of her. "Words doesn't hurt me, darling."_

"_Then what does?" _

_Paul licked his lips slowly and turned to look at her again. "I don't share my personal business with just anyone."_

_Dawn stared into his eyes as he said this, now becoming slightly intimidated by him again._

"_You should go back to your little dance friends." He told her. _

_She opened her mouth to speak, "But, I just thought—"_

"_I said go back to your friends." He repeated himself, saying it again with venom._

_Dawn felt a chill run down her spine as he said this and she nodded nervously, slowly getting up from her seat._

_It was understandable why he didn't like her much since she was a Blue Diamond, but what he didn't know is that she isn't like her friends and she would never be like them._

"It took me a while to prove to him that I wasn't like my friends. It was like he wasn't convinced, but then he began to open up to me and became really comfortable with me. That's when I knew that he wasn't like any of the rumors I heard about him. He was just a misunderstood guy."

She felt tears form in her eyes again, but she blinked them back again. She needed to hurry up and finish this speech.

"Um…" Dawn slowly looked down at her hand and stared at her engagement ring and promise ring. She nearly felt herself breaking just by looking at it, but she remained calm.

"Paul was going to propose to me," she mumbled, raising her hand up to show everyone her rings.

Loud gasps was all she could hear.

"He was?" Her mother choked out, shocked to see the ring herself.

Dawn never really gotten the chance to show her mom the rings since Paul's death, but that was only because she was so emotional.

"_What do we do when we're out of control?"_

"Yeah…" Dawn trailed off, placing her hand down on the podium and looked down at the rings. "He was going to propose to me the night of Prom, but I… I ruined everything…"

"_You didn't do anything wrong." Ash disagreed._

_Dawn sighed again and looked into Ash's eyes. "Paul was so obsessed with me possibly having feelings for you Ash. That's exactly why he did what he did, to get back at me…"_

"_But you don't have feelings for me Dawn," he told her._

_The Blue Diamond blinked, not sure with that comment. Her frown deepened and she looked down, though they were still slow dancing to the song._

_The basketball player raised his eyebrow when she didn't say anything. "Right?"_

_Dawn shook her head as she did her best to focus on Ash's shoulder. Why was Ash asking these things? Yeah, she already kissed Ash to try and see if she actually had feelings for him at the time, but now she wasn't so sure now._

_Paul was right. Ash has always been the good guy, always did and says all the right things._

_Just now she was beginning to realize that maybe she did have feelings for Ash, feelings she wasn't even sure of until now._

_The Blue Diamond slowly looked up at Ash and Ash raised his eyebrow, noticing that she looked like she was about to cry._

_Dawn shook her head and immediately she pressed her lips onto Ash's without thinking._

"Paul kept thinking I had feelings for Ash and I was just confused… I don't know what I was feeling…" She mumbled, now looking up towards the audience again.

"_My hands are woooorrrn, my heart is tooorn. We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down (Here comes another)._

"But after I found this ring on that floor along with those flowers, I knew I screwed up, I just knew that Paul saw what happened…"

"_You were going to propose?"_

"_You don't deserve to get fucking proposed to." _

"I felt like a hypocrite and I still do. All this time he believed I had feelings for Ash and the first thing I do is kiss him… I did kiss him once before but that's a long story…" She shook her head, looking towards her rings again. "But I knew exactly how Paul was feeling. All this time I deny my feelings for Ash and then the next thing I do is kiss him and to make matters worse, Paul even saw it…"

"_You ripped my HEART OUT."_

"The way he sounded on the phone…" Dawn's lips began to tremble as tears now left her face, remembering that night.

"_I didn't mean to kiss Ash, I don't know what I was thinking…"_

"_Bullshit," he retorted back. "You knew what the fuck you was thinking. You knew what you wanted all along!"_

"He sounded so angry and hurt, it really made me feel horrible." She whispered, tears falling from her eyes.

"_We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (It pulls me under)"_

The Blue Diamond was trembling as she struggled to continue with her story. Remembering that night was making her feel uneasy and she wasn't sure of what was going to happen next.

"_What, so you think it's okay to fucking use me whenever the fuck you want? I should've listened to my instincts all along. Fucking Blue Diamonds… All the fucking same."_

"_I never used you Paul! I love you, I swear I do! I never betrayed you!"_

"_LIAR!"_

"I just… I didn't know what I was thinking when I kissed Ash… I honestly wished I never kissed him at all." Dawn whispered, slowly wiping the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"_You're such a fucking liar." He chuckled. "It's hilarious, actually."_

"_I'm sorry, Paul…"_

"_You made a promise remember? That you would never leave me."_

"I did make that promise one night during a Spring Break party… but then things started changing." She frowned, looking down at her hand again.

"_I know…" She trailed off. "And I didn't mean to break that promise. But I just needed space… I didn't think it would lead down to this…"_

"_You knew what was coming," he growled. "You had it all planned out. Join the dance team and take advantage of me just like your little dance friends."_

"_I never took advantage of you! I was never like them, you know that!"_

"I guess I broke his heart that much that he actually believed I was vicious just like my old dance friends… but I never planned on breaking his heart… that was never my intention…" She whispered, looking toward the audience again.

"_It was just a fucking kiss!" She screamed. "I didn't fucking have sex with him just like how you did with Giselle!"_

"Paul did do much worse than what I did. He slept with Giselle… since you guys already heard that part from a couple minutes ago… but yeah, he did much worse, so I felt like he was overacting a bit much over just one little kiss with Ash." She frowned again.

"_Yeah, I admit that I never exactly trusted you, but that was because you gave me no choice. You kept proving each and every day how much your feelings for Ash are real—"_

"_But he isn't you! He isn't the one that I love!"_

"He just didn't believe me." Dawn cried, her voice sounding a bit off since she was crying again. "He kept second guessing my feelings for him and it was really hurting me."

"_Is there anything else you want to do to me?" he asked. "You already ripped my heart out, so are you going to run away with it now?"_

"_That's not what I meant to do," she cried._

"_Oh no, that's exactly what you meant to do."_

"That was true though… I never meant to hurt him in any way… at first I did when I found out he was sleeping with Giselle… but that was before Prom night. I wasn't thinking Prom night…" she admitted, looking down at the podium again.

"_Don't pull me under…"_

"I actually really wasn't planning to hurt him that night… as a matter of fact, I didn't even think he was going to attend Prom after I told him I wouldn't go with him."

"_Paul, why are you doing this? I thought we were that couple that fights through it all. I thought we could handle anything that comes our way."_

"_Yeah, well I can't." He decided, feeling his heart aching in pain still. "I opened up a part of me to you, something I never did with anyone and this is how you repay me?"_

"But then he came and… I ruined everything…" She turned her head slowly to look at his closed casket again.

"_I hate you," he said angrily._

"_You don't mean that…"_

"_Oh, I do. You're just another worthless girl to me."_

"_But, Paul—"_

"_NO!" he growled. "You don't get to feel sad, I do."_

"_But I love you." She said, her words shaking._

"_You don't know what love is,"_

Dawn stared at Paul's casket for a short moment and then slowly turned her head toward the audience again, wiping the tears that were running down her cheeks again. "He really believed that I had feelings for Ash… I mean… I don't blame him." She frowned again.

"_I fell in love with you, Paul. You made me realize what love is like, not Ash."_

"_Bullshit,"_

"_Why don't you believe me?" She asked, sobbing uncontrollably._

"_Because you're a compulsive liar!" He shouted again._

"_But I never lied about loving you, Paul! I always loved you, I will always love you! You're the one I want to be with, not Ash!"_

"_Just quit lying to yourself…" He trailed off._

"_But, I'm not lying…"_

"I wasn't lying." She whispered. "I loved him and I still love him. I don't think I will ever stop loving him, to be completely honest…"

"_Believe whatever you want. I'm not sticking around putting up with your bullshit anymore." He decided._

"_You're letting me go?"_

"_I can't take it anymore," he groaned._

"_No." She said. "No, you can't do this to me Paul, you just can't…"_

_A silence fell between them and then suddenly he spoke again. "I love you," he said finally, "I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy."_

"The last thing he told me was 'I love you.' And 'I'm sorry I couldn't make you happy'…" Tears began to form in her eyes again as she remembered what happened next. "And then right after that, all of a sudden… I heard a gun going off…"

_BOOM._

_Dawn stood there with her phone pressed up to her ear. Her eyes widened as she heard the loud sound occur through the phone and into the air._

_The bang of gun fire echoed throughout the street and Dawn could hear it from a mile away._

"_Paul?" _

_There was no answer, the line immediately cut off._

_Dawn pulled the phone down and stared at it, her mouth wide open._

"Everything started spinning after that." Dawn whispered, looking at the grass for a moment as she remembered how she was that night of his death.

"_I won't stay here suspended forever. I must be on my way…"_

"_Paul!" She shrieked. She painfully slammed her hand on one of the medics to get them out of the way. _

_A pair of hands held her back, trying to control her temper since she was screaming in fear._

_All she saw was a small dark red hole evident on his forehead, blood seeping from it and from the back of his head. Paul's eyes were closed and he was lying there looking dead._

"_PAUL!" She screamed again._

_She felt people grabbing her, trying to calm her down but all she could think about was the love of her life dying right before her._

"_PAUL!"_

_Dawn threw punches at the medics and the other people grabbing her. She just wanted to get to Paul and get to a hospital as soon as possible._

"_PAUL!"_

_Why wasn't they letting her touch him?_

"_PAUL!" She sobbed uncontrollably._

As these flashbacks occurred into her brain, tears came pouring down like there was no tomorrow. She sobbed silently to herself and closed her eyes shut, her hands closing on the edges of the podium as she remembered that horrifying night and how she saw him.

"_We stand, we stand, we can't stand to fall down. (It pulls me under)"_

Reggie immediately wrapped his arms around Dawn and pulled her into a hug, he buried her face into his chest as she sobbed in his chest, crying silently.

It pained her to talk about that night or even about Paul, especially on the day of his funeral.

It was just a week ago she last spoke to him, a week ago she last seen him, and now he's gone forever and never coming back…

The preacher looked at them and frowned before stepping onto the podium and standing in front of everyone.

Dawn continued to cry into Reggie's chest and he kept his arm around her, with her mother standing right next to him as well.

"I just want to say thank you to everybody who spoke today. With your words, you honor this man who honored this great country of ours and I'm sure he appreciates everything that was said right here." The preacher nodded his head, looking over at Paul's casket again. "And now a small choir is here to sing us a song that may mean a lot to some of you."

The preacher slowly got off the podium and waited for the small choir to stand in front of the audience.

A group of four guys stood in front of the podium, all dressed up in black suits and ties, and they all looked black, two of them were light skin and two of them were dark skin. Dawn slowly moved her head from Reggie's chest to look at the choir. Reggie pulled back and looked down at her, whispering "let's go sit down,". She nodded her head briefly and he took her to her seat, with her mother following behind.

"Hello everyone." One of the guys said. He was short and very handsome looking in the face. He was light skin and he almost looked sort of like Michael Ealy with the same colored eyes as him as well.

One of the other guys looked sort of like Shemar Moore and the other two looked like proper church guys. Dawn stared at them though. They were all very attractive looking and they all looked grown.

"We sing at one of the choirs at a church here in Veilstone City." The short guy said.

Dawn turned her head towards the piano which was sitting right next to Paul's casket. She hadn't noticed the piano at first because she was so busy worrying about his casket, but she noticed a piano and one of the guys sitting behind it. She assumed the man sitting at the piano was going to play while the choir sang a song.

"And we will be singing… well we'll let you guys guess what song it is. I'm sure all of you heard this song before." The short man turned around and got in between the other four guys.

Dawn sat up in her seat and wiped the tears that were on her face.

"_Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby…"_

She furrowed her eyebrows together when she heard the pianist beginning to play the piano and the beat sounded all too familiar. It sounded like the same song that was played at one of her aunts wedding's. Was it All My Life by KC and Jojo?

Gasps came from the audience when they recognized the song as well.

"Oh my gosh I love this song…" Maylene trailed off.

"What ya'll know about KC and Jojo?" One of the choir guys commented as the pianist continued playing the beat.

Dawn giggled lightly and smiled brightly. That song is and will always be beautiful. It always made her cry too because it was about being in love and that's how she felt with Paul. If Paul never died and he and her got married, she would've wanted that song to play at their wedding.

"_I will never find another lover sweeter than you, sweeter than you."_

The way the choir sang was so beautiful. They most definitely sounded like one of the church choirs for sure.

"_And I will never find another lover more precious than you, more precious than you. Girl you are close to me you're like my mother, close to me you're like my father, close to me you're like my sister, close to me you're like my brother. You are the only one my everything and for you this song I sing and all my life, I've prayed for someone like you."_

Suddenly, some of the people sitting began to sing the song with the choir, along with her mother and even Reggie and her friends. Dawn smiled, feeling tears going in her eyes again.

"_And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. And I hope that you feel the same way too."_

Dawn smiled and began to sing with everyone too. The song was so beautiful.

"_Yes, I pray that you do love me too."_

Three of the guys began to sing the background part while the short guy continued to sing the next part. _"I said you're all that I'm thinking of… baby."_

All the guys began to sing together again. _"Said, I promise to never fall in love with a stranger. You're all I'm thinking of, I praise the lord above for sending me your love, I cherish every hug. I really loveeee youuu."_

"_And all my life.."_

"_Baby, baby,"_

"_I've prayed for someone like you. And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you and I hope that you feel the same way too. Yes, I pray that you do love me—You're all that I ever known, when you smile on my face, all I see is a glow. You turned my life around, you picked me up when I was down. You're all that I ever known, when you smile on your face, all I see is a glow. You picked me up when I was down. You're all that I ever known, when you smile on your face, all I see is a glow. You picked me up when I was down and I hope that you feel the same way too. Yes, I pray that you do love me too."_

"_All my life, I've prayed for someone like you…" _ Dawn sang, tears filling in her eyes as she thought of Paul.

"_And I thank God that I, that I finally found you. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too…. All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. And I thank God that I, that I finally found you."_

The pianist suddenly stopped playing and looked up at the audience singing with the choir.

"_All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too…"_

The audience began to quiet down as the choir continued to sing the last part of the song.

Tears began to fall from Dawn's eyes as she stared at the choir.

"_All my life, I've prayed for someone like you and I thank God that I, that I finally found you… All my life, I've prayed for someone like you. Yes, I pray that you do love me too… All my life…"_

When the choir finished, they received a gigantic round of applause and Dawn nearly felt her heart melt. Instantly she clapped along with the audience. The song was perfect for his funeral and she suddenly felt a little better, especially after hearing that song. That song always made her emotional, in a good way, and it was so beautiful.

The short man smiled. "This song is dedicated to Paul and to the girl that loved him so much," he pointed his hand at Dawn and Dawn's eyes slightly widened. "Dawn."

"Thank you," she whispered, slowly getting up to give the guys a big hug.

That song dedicated to her and Paul…

All her life, she did pray for someone like Paul. She prayed for someone to love her and cherish her and she got her wish. He really did loved her and he always will even through death.

By this, she silently thanked God for giving her someone like him in her life. Though he is gone now, she knew that he will always love her and he will always live in her heart.

* * *

Everyone left the funeral service and it was just her and Reggie, Maylene and her mother. She watched Paul's casket getting buried into the ground and just by watching it, she nearly felt her heart shattering into millions of pieces.

He was really dead… She still couldn't believe it…

"Reggie, I need to ask you something," she mumbled as she watched his casket getting buried into the ground.

"What's up?" he asked, watching the casket getting buried into the ground as well.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at Reggie and grabbed him, pulling him away from Maylene and her mother just so she can talk to him by herself. Reggie looked down at her and raised his eyebrow.

She folded her arms and looked behind him, staring at the people burying Paul's casket. "At the hospital, you mentioned something about a guy named Trip… you said Paul stole from him or something like that… I was just wondering if this Trip guy is responsible for what happened to Paul?"

He stared at her for a short moment and then looked down, frowning. "Yeah, he's responsible for it."

"Who is he?" she wondered.

"His name is Trip Stonem. He was me and Paul's drug dealer." Reggie felt his fist clenching just talking about him. "He said Paul stole his money and his gun."

"Paul had a gun?" She said in shock, a bit confused of why he would want a gun in the first place.

"Yeah, apparently he did… but Paul stole from him and Trip barged into my house, threatening to shoot me and Maylene if we don't tell him where Paul was the night of Prom."

"So you had no other choice but to tell him…" Dawn trailed off, now looking down toward Reggie's suit.

"I called Paul and I told him to stay away from the Prom, so he can be safe."

"I was on the phone with him too," Dawn recalled. "He did pause on the line for a moment. I assume he was on the phone with you?"

"Maybe," Reggie shrugged. "I tried to warn him."

"I don't think he was too focused on Trip when you called him, to be honest…" She frowned, remembering that he was more focused on how she broke his heart.

"Yeah…" Reggie trailed off.

"Where can I find Trip?" She asked, curious.

He stared at her and raised an eyebrow again. "Why?"

"I think I deserve to meet the person that killed my supposed to be fiancé."

"I think it's best if you don't…" he sighed.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Because you might want to do something crazy to him, I don't know… you really wouldn't want to meet him. As a matter of fact, I won't even let you get around him because I know that he's dangerous."

"I'm not afraid of anybody." Dawn pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. He killed Paul and I don't want you to ever meet this guy."

"Can I at least know what he looks like?"

"No," Reggie said. "I'm serious Dawn, you don't need to know who he is or what he looks like. You already know his name and that's all you're gonna know."

She frowned again, "But why?"

"I just lost my brother, Dawn. I'm not putting your life at risk either."

"What makes you think he's going to hurt me?" She wondered.

"Once he finds out you were his girlfriend or involved with Paul in any type of way, he's going to get rid of you too. I just know it. He's going to cover up his tracks and I know he's coming after me and Maylene next."

"But why would he come after you and Maylene?"

"Because he knows that we know he killed Paul and he's going to try and get us. But I got a plan anyway."

"What plan?" Dawn wondered.

"It doesn't concern you. But really Dawn, you don't need to know him. Alright?"

"Okay…" Dawn frowned, looking up at him. "Reggie?"

"What?"

"I was serious about what I said earlier… I can't lose you either…"

"You won't, I promise." He pulled her by the head and into a hug again, her head leaning against his chest since he was so tall.

She kept listening to these men throwing dirt onto Paul's casket, burying him into the ground.

As Reggie pulled away from the hug, he looked over at the guys burying his brother and he sighed, looking over at Dawn. "We should go."

She slowly looked over at Reggie and then looked over at the guys burying Paul. "I want to say goodbye first." She said.

"But you already said goodbye," he recalled.

"Not really," she frowned, "I was sharing my moments I had with him, but I never got the chance to say bye."

He stared at her for a short while and then sighed lightly. "Okay. Your mother, Maylene and I are going to be in the taxi."

"Alright," she whispered. She watched as Reggie left with Maylene and her mother and she slowly turned her head towards the guys that were burying Paul. They were almost done filling it up all the way to the top too.

_I can't believe he's really gone… _She thought.

Dawn waited for the guys to finish burying him and once they did, they looked at her and she told him that she wanted to say bye before she leaves, so they left her alone to do so.

Slowly, she took a step closer to where they buried Paul. It was all covered in dark brown dirt, but she knew he was deep in the ground, lying in his casket.

Suddenly, tears began to fill in her eyes again, but she instantly blinked them back.

"H-hey Paul." She said nervously, her lips now trembling as she tried to control yourself. "I know you probably don't hear me, but I just wanted to say that I'm so, _so _sorry…" She said, her voice shaking.

"I know that I made a huge mistake by kissing Ash, but I didn't think I was going to lose you… at least not this way…" Dawn looked down, she could feel the air hitting her face and she heard light thunder boom through the sky.

It was going to rain very soon, she assumed.

"I'm sorry for breaking your heart and breaking that promise. I just… we both did some terrible things to each other. I felt like… we could've found our way back to each other… you know…?" She stared at the ground, hoping for an answer. But she didn't get a response.

"But there's one thing that I want you to know for sure. I never loved him, Paul." She said, completely sure with her statement. "I always loved you and I _will _always love you." She promised.

She slowly looked down at her hand and stared at her rings again, smiling softly. "In case you were wondering, I would've said yes if you proposed to me…" she trailed off, looking toward the ground again. "And I loved the rings. They are so beautiful and I will wear them every single day till the day I die and I am with you again… I just hope I don't gain weight." She forced a laugh. She didn't want to gain weight and not fit her rings anymore.

"Anyway… though I basically screwed things up, I still feel like I'm engaged to you." She whispered. "I love you and you're the only person I want to marry, Paul. You're the only person I wanted to have a family with…" Dawn frowned again as she realized that she's not going to have the family she wanted. "I sort of wish you got me pregnant… so that way I can still have a mini you with me… but I guess that's not going to happen…"

It sucked knowing that she couldn't have things now and it just dawned on her that everything she wanted with him is never going to happen because he's dead.

Dawn inhaled a shaky breath, tears falling from her eyes and down her cheeks. "U-um," her voice shook. "I promise I will visit you here sometimes, but… I need time to heal. I'm sure I'm going to need a lot of time to heal, actually…" She frowned even more. "I love you, Paul…" she sniffed.

Thunder boomed through the sky once again and suddenly she felt rain drops fall on her and she slowly looked up at the sky and then looked back down toward the ground where Paul was just buried.

"I won't ever forget you." She whispered. "I will always keep this ring on, I promise." This time, she wouldn't break her promise. She wouldn't even dare.

Suddenly, it began to rain hard and it startled her a bit. Dawn closed her arms over her chest, her eyes squinting and she frowned again. "Goodbye Paul…" A tear rolled down her face, but it was mixed in between the rain drops.

Thunder boomed through the sky again and this time Dawn ran towards the taxi that was waiting for her.

* * *

_**One month later.**_

The night of Graduation.

Apparently the Graduation took place at the Metlife Football Stadium within the city and the ceremony starts at 8 pm. Rumors are that after the Seniors graduate, the city Giants and another football team from the Saints that lived far in the Kanto Region would be going up against the Giants, so the graduates could stay and watch the game for free.

Football season usually starts around August, but just for the celebration of the Graduates, the Giants and the Saints would be going up against each other.

Dawn personally thought the Graduation ceremony was different. She's never been to a Graduation that was held during the night time and she also never been to one at a football stadium. She even found it really cool that they could also see a game tonight.

Dawn licked her lips as she looked at all the people who came tonight. There was tons of people all over the seating rows, she couldn't even count them all if she wanted to. Some of the people attended the ceremony to see the Seniors graduate, while some only attended to see the football game after the graduation.

She told herself she wouldn't go, but then she forced herself to, only because today is the day Paul was supposed to graduate and she knew he would've wanted her to be there, so she couldn't just miss out on the night of his graduation.

Dawn wore her hair down straight with a simple white sun dress with roses on it. She went to graduation with Reggie and Maylene and apparently Reggie said they are having a memorial presentation for Paul after everyone receives their diploma.

It seemed like hours for everyone to receive their diploma, and Dawn was waiting for Paul's memorial presentation to start.

She had been staring at his empty seat in between the Graduates for a long time. The Class of 2015 was huge, she assumed there must have been at least 600 students graduating that day, but Paul was the only one missing since his seat was empty.

Dawn frowned again, turning her attention onto the Principal who cleared his throat after all the Graduates received their diploma and returned to their seats.

"Congratulations, Graduates. But before anyone goes on ahead and throwing their caps into the air, we would like to take a moment to remember a student who would've graduated this year…"

Dawn's eyes lit up at the Principal, as well as Reggie and Maylene.

"Paul Sumpter." The principal stood back and suddenly everything got dark inside the stadium and a bright light shown on the football field. Referee's was dragging a large white board on a flat cart, large enough for everybody to see and placed it right in front of all the Graduates. It was about a couple feet away from the graduates, but it was still in front of them. The light fixed onto the large white board and suddenly the football stadium began to get quiet.

Low music began playing from the presentation.

All the graduates got quiet and Dawn gasped lightly, seeing a giant picture of Paul sitting down with his hands in his pockets. He was sitting down in front of his building on one of the benches and he looked like he was scowling, but he wasn't, that was his usual face.

"_There is a house built out of stone…"_

The picture faded away after five seconds and another picture came up. It was a picture of Paul checking himself out in the mirror, dressed up all nice. Dawn smiled, liking that picture a lot. She never knew that Paul liked to check himself out, but then again who doesn't like checking themselves out?

"_Wooden floors, walls and window sills…"_

That picture soon faded and another came up. This one was of him and Reggie. Paul was glaring at Reggie as if he was annoyed about something and Reggie had been holding one of the couch pillows and looked like he was laughing. They were both sitting on the couch in the picture and Dawn was wondering who had took the pic because she hadn't remembered taking a picture of them together on the couch, but then she wondered if Maylene took the picture.

"_This is a place where I don't feel alone."_

"Did you put these pictures together?" She whispered, turning her head towards Reggie.

"Yeah, I even put some of you and him on there."

"Really?" She seemed surprised and then a small smile formed on her lips. As she turned her head back to the presentation, she suddenly saw a picture of her and Paul together and this almost made her heart melt.

It was a picture of him staring at her like he was in love. She in the kitchen, holding a cup with a spoon in her mouth and a small smile on her face while Paul stood next to her, leaning against the fridge and looking at her. The way he was looking at her in the picture really made her heart melt. He was looking at her like she was the only thing important to him and he looked so in love and just by looking at that photo, she felt tears forming in her eyes.

"_This is a place where I feel at home."_

She could remember that day like it was no tomorrow. That was one of the nights she was sleeping over Paul's house and Reggie wanted to take pictures just because. Paul always refused to take pictures, but she didn't remember Reggie taking a photo of them that time in the kitchen. He must have caught them off guard or something.

"Did you take that picture without us noticing?" She whispered.

"Yup," Reggie smiled. "I really liked the way Paul was looking at you in the kitchen, so I just had to get a picture of it."

Dawn smiled softly and looked at the presentation again.

"I could tell that he really, really loved you, especially with how he was looking at you that day."

That picture suddenly faded away and another picture came up. It was a picture of him taking a selfie of himself in the bathroom. He was serious and he had his phone pointing toward the mirror, taking a mirror shot of him with his hand shoved in his pants. He looked so serious, but she smiled. He never really took selfies anyway.

That picture faded and another one came up. This one was a picture of her in the bed with Paul, but in the picture she looked like she was kicking Paul and Dawn instantly remembered she was fighting with him that day.

Dawn giggled lightly at that picture. "I remember when I kicked him off the bed that day," she laughed again.

"That was hilarious and he was pissed off too." Reggie laughed, remembering that day as well.

When that picture faded, another picture came up and some people gasped in awe, saying things like "aww" at the picture. Dawn felt tears forming in her eyes at the picture that came up now, it was a beautiful picture of her and Paul kissing at a bonfire. Her hair was very curly that night and he was wearing a white shirt in the photo.

She smiled warmly, remembering that night as well. They shared so many romantic moments together, romantic moments that she wished she could live again.

Dawn briefly closed her eyes as she remembered all the times their lips touched and each time they touched, she always felt that spark, that excitement that you feel whenever you kiss someone.

When she opened her eyes, she saw another picture and this time it was a picture of him smiling, something he rarely does. He didn't look like the Paul she knew all this time, he looked different and he looked very happy. Dawn smiled at this. "I never seen a picture of him smiling before."

"Yeah me too," Reggie recalled. "He was really happy that day because he got a new car."

"Was it the Mercedes Benz one?"

Reggie nodded. "Yeah, the one I got parked by my apartment."

Dawn frowned again, knowing that Paul would never be able to drive his car again.

"Do you have the keys to his car?"

"Yeah, it's in the house." He mumbled. "Why, do you want it?"

Dawn thought for a moment, wondering if she did want his car. "No, you can keep it. I'm sure you need it more than I do."

"_And IIIIII built a home for you, for me…"_

She slowly turned her head back to the presentation and saw a picture of him dressed up very nice in a red wine tuxedo and his dress up shirt was black. His hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and he almost looked like that one guy from that Selena movie with Jennifer Lopez, the guy who played Chris Perez. Dawn blushed lightly, he looked extremely handsome, but she was also curious about why he looked so dressed up in the first place and why it looked like a picture of him from nowadays…

Dawn slowly opened her mouth to speak, "Reggie, when did you take this picture of him?" She wondered.

"It was the night of Prom…" Reggie trailed off.

By this, Dawn didn't know what to say. He looked like that for Prom? And he was going to go see her that night… and propose to her too…

She frowned again, staring at the picture of him and how he looked. "He looked so handsome…" She whispered.

"He was really determined to win you back that night," Reggie assured her, his eyes still on the picture too.

She bit down on her lower lip and stared at the picture for a little longer before it slowly faded away.

A couple more pictures was shown and each picture that was displayed on the board, Dawn felt tears forming in her eyes.

But then suddenly as the last photo faded away, a video began playing on the white board.

"_Held on as tightly as you held onto me…"_

Dawn gasped. "Reggie…"

Her eyes lit up. It was a video of him and her dancing together. It was the dance he did with her at her audition… the same zouk dance she's practiced with him for a long time…

"_Held on as tightly as you held onto me…"_

Tears filled in her eyes as she watched the video. They once practiced in the living room at his place and she filmed the video just to see what it'd look like. What surprised her is that she didn't even know that Reggie even had that video.

"I thought the dance was beautiful so I wanted to share it. I hope you don't mind," he said.

She shook her head, tears falling from her eyes. "I don't," she said, her voice shaking.

The way he was looking at her and dancing with her made her feel very emotional on the inside. She can remember that dance like it was yesterday… The way he held her, the way he moved with her, the way he looked at her…

Dawn smiled softly as she watched their dance. She looked so happy and so in love just like him.

"You dance beautifully, Dawn." Maylene commented. She was sitting on the other side of Reggie and she smiled at her.

"Thank you," Dawn whispered, slowly narrowing her eyes back onto the video.

She looked so relaxed in his arms as he whirled her around with the music. The music she originally used during that dance was It Won't Stop by Sevyn Streeter ft. Chris Brown, but Reggie played another song over the presentation, so it blocked out the original song. Judging from the song that had been playing instead sounded really beautiful and it surprisingly went well with their dance. To her, it also made the dance seem more emotional.

She had her eyes closed when he moved with her and she suddenly began to do strong movements.

Dawn smiled at this, watching Paul this time. He was doing everything so well, mimicking her dance moves.

She could tell her body tensed up when he grabbed her from her waist and began to twirl her around.

"_And IIIII built a home for you… for me…"_

The tension in the video they had together seemed so intense and so sexual, but also so loveable. They did whatever flowed with the song and whatever felt right.

Dawn felt that just by looking at their dance, they can tell a beautiful story, and that's exactly what it looked like. It looked like a fairytale.

She smiled softly. He seemed so focused and calm and she loved that a lot, she loved that she was able to see the good in him.

In the video, she saw her moving him back against the wall with her fists, dancing with it.

"_Untillll it disappeared from me… from you…"_

Tears slowly filled her eyes again as she continued to watch their dance together. She hadn't realized how beautiful their dance was until now. It looked perfect and it most definitely needed to be shown to lots of people.

"_And nowwww… it's time… to leeeeeeeeaaaaaaaave and turn… to dust…"_

She inhaled a shaky breath as she wiped the tears that was sliding down her cheeks, looking at the video again.

The song now went to instrumental and this time in the video, she saw Paul push her down to the floor on her back and he got down on the floor with her, diving the bottom part of his body in between her legs.

People made slight gasps like "Oooh," and even some whistled. She giggled lightly at this, not too surprised that people even reacted like that after seeing that part of the dance.

Dawn slowly looked at the video again.

He bent down on his left knee and had his right leg up with her sitting on it, her back facing him. They mimicked a heartbeat and she smiled warmly again. He always took her breath away, especially with that dance.

The song sounded like it was coming close to an end and they separated, Dawn walking to one side of the living room and Paul walking toward the other.

The song that was playing on the presentation still played though and in the video, Dawn turned around to look at Paul and she smiled brightly at him.

Dawn smiled again at this.

She walked up to Paul and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the lips.

Dawn tore her eyes off the video, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Awww," many people said, but Dawn inhaled a shaky breath of air and slowly narrowed her eyes back onto the video of them, seeing that it slowly faded into a black screen.

At the end of the presentation, the words "In loving memory of Paul Sumpter. 1996-2015" appeared on the screen in large white font.

When the presentation ended, the principal stood in front of the microphone as the referee's now began to take the white board away from the field on a flat cart.

"Before I go on, I first would like to say that I'm sorry for the ones who lost this young man. It would've been nice to see him walk across the stage, but I'm sorry that he didn't get to." He looked down at his hands, holding a cap and a gown along with his diploma. The principal raised the cap and gown up for everyone to see, along with the diploma. "We kept his graduation attire and his diploma. Can a family of his please come down to receive his cap and gown, along with his diploma?"

Reggie slowly got up from his seat and began to head toward the field.

Dawn smiled softly as she watched Reggie and she looked at Paul's cap and gown and his diploma in the principal's hands. His cap and gown was beautiful, in bright blue. But it pained her to know that she wouldn't be able to see him in his cap and gown and holding his diploma.

She frowned again and looked down.

It had only been a month and a week since his death and it felt like it's been years since he's been gone.

She missed him so, so much…

Dawn slowly turned her head to Maylene and thought for a brief moment.

Reggie didn't want her to meet Trip, Paul's killer, but she really wanted to meet Trip, she really wanted to see the face of Paul's killer.

He told her he doesn't want her to get involved, but she felt really broken and she found it unfair that Trip can live peacefully after killing Paul.

"Maylene," she whispered, getting up to take a seat next to her.

Maylene looked at her with concern, lowering her voice too. "Yeah?"

"You know Trip, right?"

The girl blinked, a bit surprised that Dawn would even mention him or even knew about him. "Yeah…" she trailed of. "Why?"

"Reggie told me that Trip was Paul's drug dealer… did he have a store or something?"

Maylene frowned softly. "I'm not supposed to tell you…"

"Please?" Dawn frowned too. "I can't live without knowing who this guy is Maylene… he killed Paul…"

"I know," Maylene whispered. "But it can be really dangerous. Trip could hurt you just like how he hurt Paul."

"I won't let that happen." Dawn promised. "I just really need to meet him."

Maylene stared at her for a long moment and her frown deepened. "Are you going to try anything stupid?"

"I'm not sure…" Dawn trailed off.

"Dawn," Maylene said, now serious.

Dawn shook her head, "I don't know… I won't try anything crazy… at least not yet…"

"Dawn," Maylene said again.

The Blue Diamond sighed again. "Please, Maylene? I'm begging you."

Maylene let out a soft sigh. "Fine…"

Dawn looked at her, now hopeful.

"You know that tobacco store that it just a few blocks down from Reggie's place?"

Dawn nodded her head.

"He works there."

"Is it going to be open tonight?" Dawn asked, curious.

"Yeah, but it closes at 1 am."

The Blue Diamond pulled out her phone to check what time it was, it was currently going on 9 pm, so she assumed she had enough to time to go to the Tobacco store that night.

"You're not leaving now, are you?" Maylene asked, raising her eyebrow.

Dawn shook her head. "No, but I will, maybe at 10:30."

"Well you better be careful, okay?" Maylene said.

"I will."

* * *

The football game started about an hour ago and people were already going crazy over the Giants and the Saints. But Dawn sighed as she sat in her seat, looking over at Reggie and Maylene. Reggie looked like he was healing slowly from Paul's death.

Though it had only really been a month since his death, Dawn still didn't understand how Reggie looked like he was healing. It was taking her a long time to heal. She still felt broken and she felt like she was missing a part of her.

It was currently 10:25 and Dawn had been eyeing the time on her phone since the game started. Tonight, she was going to meet Trip, the asshole who took Paul away from her.

She didn't know what she was going to do when she sees him, but she knew at the moment that she wanted to meet him and see who this guy is.

In her mind, she wanted to get him sent to jail, but then another part of her mind wanted to kill him. Either way, she wanted to get him right then and there, but she promised Maylene she wouldn't do anything crazy, at least not yet.

Dawn sighed as she slowly got up, turning her body to Reggie and Maylene. She cleared her throat and the two looked her way.

"I'm going back home. My mom and I are packing tomorrow and I want to get some rest tonight."

That part was true though, about the packing. Her mother had organized a trip to the Unova region for summer break and they were going to leave the day after tomorrow. But Dawn wasn't going home too soon though, she wanted to meet Trip first before she goes home.

"You're going to stop by my place before you leave to Unova right?" Reggie raised his eyebrow.

Dawn smiled at him. "Of course," she said.

"Alright," he got up to give her a hug and she gave him a hug too.

Maylene was next to give her a hug and once she gave her a hug, Maylene whispered in Dawn's ear. "You better go home after meeting him. I'm going to text you."

When Maylene pulled away from the hug, Dawn looked at her and Maylene stared back at her with a serious look. Dawn nodded her head at Maylene and looked at Reggie. "Bye," she whispered.

She turned her body and began to leave out of there.

It took about fifteen minutes to officially get out of the stadium and it felt like forever for her. But as soon as she made it outside, she called a taxi and gave the taxi driver the address she wanted to go to.

As she sat back in her seat, she was suddenly beginning to feel a bit nervous, but also a bit prepared to meet this guy. She honestly didn't know how she was going to react after seeing this guy face to face, but she hoped she wouldn't break the moment she meets him. Tonight wouldn't be the night to act up in any kind of way.

"_Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now. Maybe it won't find us after all…"_

Twenty minutes passed and they were directly in front of the tobacco store. Dawn inhaled a shaky breath as she stared out the window, looking at the store.

"_Carry… me… home…"_

The taxi driver cleared his throat and Dawn tore her eyes off the window, turning her head to the taxi driver. She licked her lips and slowly handed the guy her money before getting out of the taxi.

As she got out of the taxi and got onto the sidewalk, she stared at the tobacco store in front of her, her heart beating fast.

_I can't believe I actually came here tonight._

Dawn let out a nervous breath of air.

"_Taken down I give into what I can't disguise… I surrender, ooooh, I surrender. Broken down, I give into what I cannot have… I surrender, oooh I surrender."_

The first thing she did was fix her white sundress with red roses on it and fixed her straight hair, along with her bangs. After fixing herself, a thought came into her mind. Guys liked girls who showed their cleavage right?

Dawn personally didn't want to try and… seduce that motherfucker, but she also wanted to get her revenge somehow. Tonight wouldn't be the night, but she planned to most definitely make his jaw drop.

She brought her hand up and pulled down the front part of her dress a little, trying show more of her cleavage and get more of her breast shape a bit more revealing.

"_Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now.. Oooh I surrender, oooh I surrender. Don't make a sound now, don't make a sound now. Ooooh I surrender, ooooh I surrender."_

Dawn straightened her body up and looked up at the tobacco store.

It was now or never.

Licking her lips, she pushed the doors open of the tobacco store and stepped inside.

Her eyes fell on a blonde guy who was behind the counter at the cashier and he was the only person who happened to be here at this place.

His eyes instantly fell on her and she tore her eyes off of him, trying to think of what to buy here.

She instantly grabbed one of the hookah pens she saw somewhere and then walked over to him, staring at him face to face now from across the counter.

His eyes was a pale gray color and his hair was dirty blonde. She stared at him for a short moment before taking out her money and handing it to him.

He smirked at her and took the money. "You look good," he commented.

Dawn blinked, now a bit curious if this guy is Trip. "Thanks…" she mumbled. Her eyes trailed off from his and fell on his name tag that was on his shirt.

Her breath hitched quietly at the name. _It was him._

"What's your name?" he asked before handing her the hookah pen and placing the money into the cash register.

"_Broken down, I give in, I give in… Ooooh I surrender, oooh I surrender…"_

Dawn slowly took the hookah pen and stared at him for a short while before answering. "Gwen." She said lowly. "I'm Gwen Levine."

* * *

**A/N: So I know all of you want to kill me since I killed Paul, but I wanted to follow Hollywood Undead's song as best as I could. Originally, I wanted to kill off Dawn, but I killed off Paul instead and I hope you guys can forgive me.**

**I wanted to make a sequel for this story… and my original thought for the sequel was going to be Dawn plotting her revenge against Trip. I was planning to make the sequel mainly about her… idk, its up to you guys if you want a sequel or not. But if so, I will name it My White Dahlia!**

**Songs used in this chapter: It Pulls Me Under by Butterfly Boucher, All My Life by KC &amp; Jojo, To Build a Home by The Cinematic Orchestra, Surrender (Piano Version) by Digital Daggers**

**Well, I hoped you guys enjoyed this story! I really liked it and it excites me to know that I finally got to finish it. I'm so happy. (: Let me know all your thoughts on this chapter and this story overall! Also let me know if you guys want a sequel!**


End file.
